


In the Blink of An Eye

by Stage51



Series: To Be With You Forever [1]
Category: Emergency!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-01 03:47:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4004668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stage51/pseuds/Stage51
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Johnny Gage has a problem and a secret. Mike Stoker has the same problem and secret. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Fire Within

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction, please be gentle!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own them, unfortunately. I take them out, play for a while, then send them back to Station 51.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Gage has a problem and a secret, but so does Mike Stoker. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Emergency story!
> 
> I don't own them, I only play with them for a while and then send them back to Station 51.

  


John Gage stared out the windshield of his white Land Rover and heaved another huge sigh. He glanced down at his watch before looking out the window again. He had been creeping along at a snail’s pace on the 405 for the last 15 minutes. It was now 0822 and he was due at his yoga class at 0830. Johnny was extremely stressed out and anxious, two very essential triggers for needing the yoga class, but Gage knew deep down (or maybe not so deep) that these were not the main reasons for his sudden interest for taking this particular class. No, Johnny endured the manic drivers on the 405 during the morning rush, folding himself up like a pretzel in the yoga class, and being away from his ranch when he should be home mucking stalls, fixing that hole in the barn’s roof, and riding like the wind on one of his four horses for only one reason: a certain sandy haired, blue eyed engineer with the sexiest hands Johnny had ever seen.

The clearer Mike Stoker’s face became in his mind’s eye, the bigger the grin on Johnny’s face. He suddenly heard that jingle in his head just like every time he thought about Mike. _“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh what a relief it is”._ Johnny wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. Whenever he let himself really think about Mike, that little ditty popped into his head. He surmised it was because Mike made him feel refreshed. It also made him sexually charged from head to toe. After he let himself think that much about Mike, Johnny always felt depressed and deflated. He knew that his feelings were his alone. Mike had never given any indication of being anything but straight, and yet there was something there, something Johnny just couldn’t put his finger on.

Johnny chuckled, humorlessly, as his mind wandered to the conversation he had overheard in the dayroom approximately two weeks ago today. Mike was quietly speaking with lineman Marco Lopez about wanting to find a good yoga instructor. Marco was interested himself because his very married sister was visiting and had brought along her husband and their five children.

“Adios Mio”, exclaimed Marco. “Personally, I will be glad when they all pack up and go back East to Long Branch, New Jersey,” Marco said miserably.

Johnny had listened at the door shamelessly, waiting for anything more. He loved the quiet, smooth tone of Mike’s voice. As Johnny watched Marco and Mike, he knew that he was going to have to do something soon. Just thinking about ( _his_ ) Mikey, made his cock twitch.

As he stewed, Johnny let his mind wander back to the first time he saw Mike. John had just graduated top of his class in the second round of paramedic inductees. His mentor, Roy DeSoto, had been very impressed with him and asked to be partnered with John Gage. Roy also found out that the two of them were to be assigned to a brand new station in Carson, 51’s. Even before they started working together, Johnny liked Roy and vice versa. They had developed a great repoire during their paramedic classes and Roy had even brought John home to dinner a few times over the seemingly long weeks of training. Roy’s wife, Joanne, and their two children, Christopher and Jennifer, had taken an instant like to Johnny as well. By the end of the first dinner, the kids were calling Johnny “Uncle” and he was beaming over this.

Suddenly, the big day was upon him; it arrived with a cloudless sky and bright sunshine. Johnny was up early, had his horses fed and watered and ready to leave for the station by 0715. As he walked in from the parking lot, Johnny was immediately drawn to the engine. He had only ridden in squads since he had trained to be a rescue man and stared wistfully at the big open cab pumper. While gazing at the Crown, the most beautiful vision Johnny had ever seen walked around the front of the bay. This creature had a dazzling smile with near perfect teeth and eyes so blue Johnny wanted to jump in and lose himself. Johnny thought his heart was going to need the defibrillator as a sensual hand was held out. Johnny felt the warmth in the handshake and also a spark of electricity that he felt. Eyes met and Johnny saw twinkling in the blue depths as he heard, “Hi, I’m Mike Stoker, Welcome to Station 51”.

~~ E! ~~

Unbeknownst to Johnny, Mike Stoker was several feet ahead and to the right of him on the same freeway. Ironically, they were “parked” on the 405 the same way they sat in their yoga class. Mike always felt that someone was watching him, imagined velvety dark eyes boring a hole in his back. He would always chalk it up to an overactive imagination and reprimand himself for being so ridiculous.

“Come on Mikey, you know that Gage is the biggest skirt chaser on the planet and even if he _was_ gay, Mr. Life of the Party certainly wouldn’t be interested in a plain dope like you”, sighed Mike. But still, Johnny had shown an interest in joining the yoga class and actually going to the same one as him. Mike remembered how his pulse quickened when he realized that Johnny was actually listening and interested to that conversation he was having with Marco about finding a good yoga class. At the time Mike thought it sounded like a great idea to have Johnny all to himself for an hour’s session a couple of times a week, but as time went on, he was beginning to have doubts. It was not easy to be that close to the object of one’s affection without acting on those feelings. Most times Mike ended up going home to his tiny apartment frustrated and longing to have Johnny wrapped up in his bed, naked and wanting him as much as he wanted Johnny.

Mike thought about Johnny going home to his ranch. Gage probably ran in, grabbed a cold drink, and a quick shower then off to the barn to jump on one of his four horses and ride for the remainder of the afternoon. He had even memorized the Indian names that Johnny had given to them. Makhá, Thaté, Mni, and Phéta. These Lakota names translated into English as earth, wind, water, and fire. Three of the horses were gorgeous chestnut brown American Quarter horses and the fourth, Phéta, was a little red pony that Johnny had acquired only a month ago with Jenny DeSoto in mind. Mike’s heart melted whenever he thought how Johnny doted on Roy’s children. He had a special bond with all of the DeSoto’s, especially Roy. They seemed to be closer than even blood related brothers would be. Mike really appreciated this relationship and the importance of family considering his had basically disowned him after his “announcement” that he was in fact gay. His big brother, Ben, who lived a half a mile away from Mike’s apartment, had gotten married to a girl that the whole family had known for practically their whole lives and had twin baby girls. Mike was excluded from attending the wedding and he found out about his nieces through a mutual friend.

The rush hour traffic started moving but not fast enough for Mike. He needed a distraction after depressing himself with his dark thoughts about his brother’s family. Naturally, his mind wandered to the most pleasant thing he could think of, the first time he ever saw Johnny Gage! The memory of that historic moment will be burned into Mike’s brain for an eternity. For one brief second, Mike thought he saw desire in Johnny’s eyes, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

Mike had only been at the brand, spankin, new Station 51 for a few days under the strict leadership of Captain Hammer. Mike was a newly promoted Engineer and wanted to be perfect at his new assignment. In those first days if one wanted to talk to Stoker, one need only go as far as the engine bay. Mike was never far from “ _his_ Big Red” as the Crown pumper was affectionately referred to. He was always fussing over all of her gauges, sitting in the driver’s seat or cleaning and polishing the open cab engine. The linemen of the station, Marco Lopez and Chet Kelly, kept wondering out loud who the new paramedics would be. Mike barely gave it a thought as he worried too much about messing up in front of his captain. He had heard that Dick Hammer was a stickler of the rules and Mike, by nature, needed to be perfect.

So that unforgettable day that Mike calls, _“The John Gage Take Me I’m Yours Forever Day”,_ began when he was looking over the hoses and the compartments on the engine. He thought he heard voices coming from the squad side of the bay. He had met Roy DeSoto already. Mike really liked Roy. He had a quiet, easy way about him, a firm handshake, and friendly eyes. Mike could also tell that Roy was as straight as an arrow and married for like forever! Not that it mattered anyway. Work romances were strictlytaboo; gay firemen like police officers had to bury their sexual orientation so deep that they forgot about them. But this was way too much to bury, at least all at once. He came around the engine a bit too quickly and there in front of him was the most perfect male specimen Mike had ever seen. His pulse quickened, he could barely catch his breath, and driving on auto-pilot Mike stuck his right hand out and said _Hi, I’m Mike Stoker. Welcome to Station 51._ With that, Johnny enveloped Mike’s hand in a strong yet somehow tender grip and Mike had to be very cautious that he didn’t fall down because his knees had suddenly turned to jelly. He even saw a twinkle in Johnny’s velvety brown eyes and imagined he felt an electric current run through him from the touch. Right after the handshake and introductions, Mike hightailed it to the latrine to take care of the huge hard-on in his pants! Mike inwardly moaned and wondered how he was going to survive working with this Greek god.


	2. A Brewing Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Gage has a secret and a problem. So does Mike Stoker. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own them, I merely play with them for a while and then send them back to Station 51.
> 
> A/N: Thank you for the comments, they mean a lot. Also a huge thank you to my beta, Laura. I am eternally grateful to you.

By 0840, Sherry Polinow was wondering where her 0830 class was. She didn’t think there had been a major disaster in Carson the last twenty-four hours so she was stumped. Out of a class of twelve, Sherry had four people in front of her.

None of the four knew why everyone else was missing. Sherry turned on her transistor radio and turned the dial searching for a news station. She finally hit upon one that related a backup on the 405. According to the report someone had dropped a load of tires off of their pickup truck and they had bounced all over the four lane freeway. No injuries were reported, which in itself was a miracle, but traffic had slowed to a crawl waiting for emergency vehicles to clear the road.

The petite, scarlet haired beauty looked out at her class with incandescent orbs of emerald.

“Okay class, this is what I was able to find out from the radio reports”, Sherry stated. “There has been a mishap out on the 405 involving ten to a dozen tires. I am confident that is where the rest of our class is”. Sherry said softly. She showed them her dazzling smile as she spoke.

“I want to give an hour’s time to see how many more of our classmates get here”, Sherry cautiously but firmly directed. She scanned the faces in front of her for reactions.

Sherry was wearing her mint green leotard. She picked this one out on purpose for more than one reason. First, she knew it looked the best on her with her scarlet hair and emerald green eyes. Secondly, because she _knew_ she looked good, Sherry had more confidence in herself and had worked her courage up to talk to that really tall, handsome man that had just started coming two weeks ago. There were two and she was pretty sure they were friends. The one Sherry liked had sandy colored hair, cobalt eyes and he looked like he just walked in off the beach. The third and final reason was Walter LeVox. Just thinking his name sent a shiver of disgust throughout Sherry’s entire body. She hoped to never see this particular man again. The leotard gave her back some of the self-confidence that LeVox had robbed from her.

As Sherry began musing over her first encounter with Walter, she told the whole four people waiting for class to get drinks from the juice bar, “on the house”. She sat down with her favorite frothy concoction of mango, papaya, and pineapple and allowed her mind to think back three weeks to the day Sherry Polinow met Walter LeVox at the corner fruit stand.

Sherry had been in the process of picking out the ripest mangos to make her breakfast concoction when suddenly the mountain of fruit seemed to coming barreling down upon her. This man seemingly came running to her rescue. She caught a glimpse of him as he assisted in rolling the errant fruit back up to the top of the mango mountain. It took a few minutes but between them they kept most of the mangos from the floor. The owner came running out of the tiny shack and helped as well. After the deed was accomplished, Sherry held her hand out to the Good Samaritan and introduced herself. Walter shook Sherry’s hand and held it a bit longer than was necessary. Sherry saw that he wasn’t a bad looking fellow. He was very clean cut with a rather pale complexion, as if he didn’t get outside an awful lot. He had hazel eyes but they were a bit lackluster, plus they were covered by round, metal rimmed glasses, the kind John Denver wears. He was on the thin side, but not skin and bones. He was wearing bell-bottomed hip huggers with a dark suede belt and a long sleeve button down shirt with a tiny floral print. Walter had an odd smile as well. His lips were thin and when he smiled it seemed more of a grimace than a genuine smile and it never seemed to reach his eyes. There was just something about him, something she just couldn’t put her finger on…

Sherry involuntarily shivered when he took her hand and said, “I’m Walter LeVox, and you are?” He was practically leering at her and Sherry felt the icy fingers of dread in the pit of her stomach.

“Sh – Sherry, Sherry P- Po- linow, thanks for helping me out”, she stumbled over her words wanting nothing more than to get out of there.

Walter immediately began inquiring about where she was going and if he could have her phone number and how he really wanted to see her again. He told her how pretty she was and that she could have a nice time with him. Sherry was getting more and more nervous. She took her fruit into the shack, paid the owner, turned toward Walter and said, “Thank you again for your help, but I really must get going to work”.

Sherry practically ran past Walter, hailed a taxi, even though her studio was only three blocks from the fruit stand. She was worried that he might follow her. Sherry had a sinking feeling that this was not the last of Walter LeVox in her life, and she was correct. Over the last three weeks, Sherry has been inundated with gifts and trinkets from one Walter LeVox. It had gotten so bad that Sherry thought maybe she should call the police to look into the matter. She had all of the “gifts” sitting on her kitchen table and covered them all over with an old sheet just so she didn’t have to face them every day.

 

~~ E! ~~

Roy DeSoto was sitting on his back deck admiring the lawn. He had just finished mowing it and was taking a well-deserved break. He fished in his back pocket and pulled out Joanne’s ‘honey-do’ list. He sighed as he perused the list and realized he’d need an entire two weeks off to complete it. He knew Joanne just wrote things down as she thought of them and left it up to Roy what he could and/or wanted to get done during his days off.

Roy was wishing that Johnny had come home with him this morning and they could have tackled the trim on the house this morning. But for some reason that escaped him, Johnny had decided to start taking yoga classes, of all things. Roy suspected there was someone in the class that had caught his partner’s eye. He thought about calling Johnny later on knowing that after his class he would have plenty of chores to do around his ranch. Roy would wait until at least three in the afternoon before calling his partner to see if the younger man wanted to join him out for a pizza and beer. Joanne and the kids had left to visit her mother for a few days and the last thing that Roy wanted to do, especially after working around the house all day, was to cook dinner. Plus, as much as he enjoyed the quiet, Roy knew by the evening he would be missing his family terribly.

The entire time Roy sat out on the porch sipping his iced tea, he couldn’t help but have an uneasy feeling. He couldn’t explain it or pinpoint it, but he felt that something just wasn’t right. He decided to go into the house and call Joanne, just to be on the safe side. As he opened the French doors leading from the deck to the dining room the phone began to ring.

“Hello”, Roy said into the receiver.

“ _Hi Sweetheart, just wanted to let you know that the kids and I arrived safely_ ”, smiled Joanne.

“Hey, that’s great honey, I was just coming in to call you”, Roy replied.

“ _Coming in from where? And why were you calling me? Is something wrong, sweetie?”_ queried Joanne.

“No, no honey, nothins wrong. I just wanted to make sure you and the kids got there okay. I came in from mowing the lawn”, replied Roy. He didn’t want Jo to worry so he didn’t tell her about his uneasiness.

“ _Oh, how wonderful you are sweetheart! I have the most considerate husband on the planet”,_ gushed Joanne.

“Yeah, well why don’t you mention that fact to your mother”, grumbled Roy.

“ _Now, Roy_ ”, warned Joanne.

“Ok honey, you guys have a wonderful time and I will call you tomorrow. Give the kids a kiss for me and I’m sending you all my love”, expressed Roy.

“ _Love you too, sweetheart. I will be looking forward to hearing from you tomorrow”,_ uttered Joanne.

 

~~ E! ~~

Sherry actually did have something to be concerned about because at the exact time that she was talking to Mike, Walter LeVox was standing across the street with a camera that had a telescopic lens on it. Walter was waiting like he did most every day in the same spot. He took pictures of her every chance he got. He began to smile when he thought of how Sherry would react to his “special” wall in his apartment.

But Walter was getting upset because Sherry seemed to be interested in that man in her class. Walter knew it was time to take care of that problem. He took the snub-nosed 38 out of his camera case and checked the bullets again for the fifth time. Walter knew that Sherry would be grateful to him for getting rid of that man.

Walter put the 38 into the pocket of the jacket of his brown polyester leisure suit. He then slithered across the street to the yoga class.

Sherry kept Mike at the door for an extra minute as he walked into the studio. She proceeded to head to the front of the class and Mike went to his usual spot in the front row and to the right. He chanced a glance back at Johnny and was rewarded with deep brown eyes looking back at him. They locked eyes and seemed to understand that they needed to talk.

Sherry spoke up about how great it was to have the whole class back together. The entire class sent back accolades to Sherry for being so kind and to hold up the class until they all got there. The class stood up from their mats and gave Sherry a standing ovation.

There was so much noise coming from the class that no one noticed Walter LeVox as he slipped into the room and took the gun out of his pocket in one fluid motion. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and echoed throughout the yoga studio and the whole class jumped. A few stifled screams as realization began to sink in. There was a man with a gun in the studio and he used it!

At first Johnny was frozen. He hated guns with a passion. Suddenly the crazy man with the gun started yelling at Mike and got right in his face.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but Sherry belongs to me!” Walter raged in Mike’s face. Walter’s face was turning beet red as he screeched at Mike.

“Don’t worry my love, I will get rid of this interloper so we can be together forever”, Walter said softly to Sherry.

Mike was petrified what was going to happen next with Walter sticking his gun in his face. He tried to reason with Walter.

“Look man, I’m seeing someone and I’m not interested in Sherry at all”, Mike explained.

Even with the immediate danger they were facing, Johnny felt his whole world crumble as his heart dropped into his stomach. Mike was “seeing someone”. Johnny had no chance with him now. He recovered quickly and slowly made his way towards the front of the room. Johnny wanted to stop the crazy gunman and keep Mike safe. He still had very strong feelings for Mike and his insides were twisted into a tight knot worrying about what was going to happen. He slowly glided up until he was standing right behind Mike. Johnny wasn’t sure what to do, but he felt better being closer to him.

Mike instinctively knew that Johnny was right in back of him and he let himself relax a bit. He couldn’t believe how much better he felt knowing that Johnny was right there with him. Walter was still holding onto Mike’s neck as he was turned talking to Sherry. He had turned back to Mike after he tried to explain to Walter that he wasn’t interested in Sherry. Walter was shaking his head and was becoming more agitated.

“You don’t really expect me to believe that you would prefer some other girl over Sherry do you?”, Walter asked incredulously.

“I am sure Sherry is a great girl, but she just isn’t my type”, answered Mike.

“Don’t try to fool me or throw me off the track you fucker! Sherry is mine and mine alone and I’m going to make sure you can’t have her”, screamed Walter right in Mike’s face. And with that, he lifted the 38, pointed it at Mike and pulled the trigger, point blank!

 

 


	3. Fallout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Gage has a secret and a problem. So does Mike Stoker. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with them for a while and send them back to Station 51.

 

 

The yoga studio was silent as the cloud of smoke from the gun dissipated. The entire class stood stock still, afraid to even breathe. Walter LeVox and Johnny Gage locked eyes for a brief moment before Johnny broke away to look down at Mike. Stoker was on his back, eyes closed, and bleeding profusely from the left side of his abdomen. Without even touching him, Johnny could tell that Mike’s breathing was labored and shallow and that his pulse was rapid and also imagined that Mike’s bp was too low. Johnny instantaneously dropped to his knees, quickly pulled off his long sleeve button down shirt and put it over Mike’s wound and applied pressure to help stem the flow of blood which caused Mike to flinch and moan. He tried to turn away from the pain and Johnny spoke softly to him to try to keep him calm. Johnny felt horrible that he was causing more pain for Mike, but the paramedic in him knew this action was necessary.

Walter regained his senses and still holding the gun, pointed it at Johnny and told him to get away from Mike.

“I have to keep pressure on the wound, man or he’s going to bleed to death,” Johnny ground out.

“I said BACK OFF!! or you will be joining him!” Walter spat at him.

At this point Walter put the gun on Mike’s forehead and cocked the trigger. Johnny watched in horror as this played out in front of him. He was paralyzed with fear, so afraid of losing Mike. Johnny’s entire world was tilted and he was having trouble dealing with the immediate danger. Watching the gun in Walter’s hand pressed against Mike’s forehead could not be real, this just couldn’t be happening.

“ _This truly is happening and I don’t know if I can go on living if he pulls that trigger, I’ve got to find a way to stop this maniac.”_ Johnny’s addled mind reeled.

Johnny continued to keep pressure on Mike’s wound but he was afraid it was a losing battle. His shirt was becoming soaked with Mike’s blood. Mike was unconscious but was absolutely feeling pain. He would moan and jerk his body around every time Johnny pressed on his abdomen. The rest of the class and Sherry were sitting down and it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Sherry was surveying her class to see how everyone was enduring this horror and she was also keeping an eye on Mike and Johnny. She was almost as frightened as Johnny that Walter was going to blow Mike’s head off.

Suddenly there was the sound of police cars outside the studio. Walter whipped his head around to Sherry and began to accuse her of calling the authorities. Sherry tried to explain to him that she didn’t call anyone, that she’d been sitting there the whole time. The tears began to roll from her bright emerald orbs over the entire situation. Meanwhile, Johnny saw Walter’s distraction as his only chance and he pushed the gun in Walter’s hand off of Mike’s forehead with such force that the gun flew out of Walter’s hand. In the meantime, the police car had sped right by the yoga studio, off to help some other citizens.

With LeVox being distracted, one of the students sitting along the back wall was able to inch her way over to a table in the back left hand corner that housed a telephone for the patrons to use. She dialed the local police department and whispered into the receiver that they needed help immediately and this was an actual emergency! She told the person on the other end that the man holding them had already shot someone and they all feared for their lives. The dispatcher promised to send the police to the yoga studio address and the student said to make sure they came silently, no sirens at all.

Walter and Johnny were both so stunned that the gun had been dislodged that neither of them moved for a moment. Unfortunately, Walter recovered first and lunged for the gun. He got his hand around it and pointed it at Johnny who was back putting pressure on Mike’s wound. Out of the corner of his eye, Walter had seen a woman on the phone and knew the police would be on their way. As much as he wanted Sherry, he knew he couldn’t take her too. Plus in the state he was in, Walter thought that Sherry would never tell the police anything against him. He cocked the 38 and shoved it against Johnny’s cheek causing the skin to pull apart and the blood to ooze down the side of his face and land on his crisp white t-shirt.

“Pick him up and bring him to the back door,” Walter growled at Johnny.

“Are you out of your fuckin mind? He’s losing too much blood now! If I try moving him, chances are he will die!” Johnny cried incredulously.

“That’s ok, if he kicks the bucket, I’ll still have you to shield me from the cops,” Walter smirked.

Johnny was, for once, lost for words. He couldn’t believe how callous LeVox could be. Even though Johnny knew Walter was capable of shooting someone, Johnny still had trouble wrapping his head around the fact that Walter would dismiss Mike’s death as he would disregard a disposed of piece of trash.

“Why don’t you just leave him here and I’ll come with you?” pleaded Johnny “With that bullet in him, you will be slowed down and easier for the cops to catch you. If you just take me with you, we can move a lot faster,” he reasoned.

Walter seemed to contemplate Johnny’s statements when suddenly his face went dark and he started screaming that Mike was the one trying to get between himself and Sherry and he’d be damned if he was going to leave Mike behind to go after her again. Apparently Walter wasn’t satisfied with wooing Sherry, he also wanted to make sure that Mike stayed away, permanently. He raised the gun again, but instead of threatening Johnny’s life with it, he pointed it one more time at Mike. Walter was a highly intelligent man and seemed to be able to read people well, except for the ones he was actually stalking!

Johnny didn’t dare disobey Walter’s order. He was already scared shitless that Mike was going to die without ever knowing the depth of Johnny’s feelings for him.

~~ E! ~~

When Roy hung up the phone he looked at his list and saw a chore that was relatively easy. He went out to the small laundry room off the kitchen and found the objects he searched for. Next he grabbed the step ladder from behind the door, leaning up against the wall with the ironing board. Roy proceeded to change the burned out light bulbs for the next 10 minutes. He got the front hallway, the landing at the top of the stairs leading to the bedrooms, and the outside light for the backyard. By the time he finished, it was nearly 10:15 and the temperature continued to climb. Roy decided to pour himself a glass of ice tea and take a well-deserved break. He took his tea, along with a couple of Jo’s homemade chocolate chip cookies, and wandered into the living room. He turned the TV on to see if he could catch some news. Roy again wished that he had some kind of gizmo that would turn the channels on the TV by itself. “ _Oh well, maybe someday,”_ he chuckled to himself. “ _Better be careful there DeSoto, you’re starting to sound like that partner of yours!”_

Roy found the channel he’d been looking for and sat down in his comfortable chair, sipped on his ice tea and watched. Suddenly the anchorman speaking was waving a paper around as he declared “Ladies and Gentleman, we have a Special **Report** coming from a local establishment in Carson”, the anchor stated. “We will now go out to our man on the street, Bud Halloway” “Can you hear me, Bud?”

“Yes, Len I hear you just fine,” stated Bud. “We are here at the **_Inner Peace Yoga Studio_** at the Carson Mall on Avalon Blvd. where things are anything but peaceful,” declared Bud. “There has been a report of gunshots from inside the establishment, Len. There are at least 5 patrol cars parked around the building. Apparently, someone from inside the yoga studio called the police and told them there was a guy with a gun inside the place and had shot once in the air. Since that phone call, Len, the police have reported at least one more gunshot,” Bud reported grimly.

Roy’s ice tea and glass were spilled all over the living room rug. Roy, himself, was on his knees with his eyes glued to the television. He remembered when Johnny talked about joining this yoga class he said it was The Inner Peace. Roy’s heart was beating out of his chest and his mouth was completely dry. There was no doubt in his mind that Johnny and Mike were inside that building and that was the cause of his uneasy feeling that had been haunting him all morning. As soon as he could trust his legs not to betray him and buckle, Roy got up off the floor and went straight to the phone to call Captain Stanley.

 


	4. Jeopardy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Gage has a problem and a secret. Mike Stoker has basically the same problem and secret. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> Thank you to everyone who has read this story. Special thank you to those who took time out of their busy day to leave a comment or two or a kudo. Means the world to me!
> 
> Plus, as always, a huge thank you to my beta, Laura.  
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just play with them for a while and send them back to Station 51.

 

Johnny carefully lifted Mike up in his arms trying at the same time to keep pressure on the wound. Mike groaned in his unconscious state as Johnny carried him outside. Walter headed straight for Johnny’s Land Rover. Johnny was puzzled and asked, “Hey how did you know which vehicle was mine?” Walter just turned and smiled at him before demanding the key from him. Johnny reached into his pocket and got out his keys and handed them over to Walter. He then cradled Mike to himself with his left hand and tried to keep his right hand on Mike’s abdomen.

Walter opened the back door and told Johnny “Toss the slime into the backseat and shut the door, now!”

Johnny looked at Walter as if he had six heads!

“There is no way in hell that I am leaving him alone in the backseat! He needs constant pressure on the wound and I am NOT letting go!” Johnny growled.

Walter succumbed to Johnny’s orders realizing he was better off just giving in this time because LeVox knew that he needed to get out of the parking lot as soon as possible and didn’t want to risk getting caught over an argument with Gage. So he let Johnny get into the backseat with Mike. As Walter climbed into the driver’s seat, Johnny arranged Mike so that his head was in Johnny’s lap and Johnny could get a good grip on the bleeding wound in Mike’s abdomen. Johnny told Walter that he wasn’t going to get very far because there were cops everywhere. Walter just snickered at him and started out of the parking lot. Instead of going out the back entrance, Walter eased the Rover down a narrow alleyway that was practically hidden. In fact the police hadn’t seen it and therefore weren’t guarding it. Walter was able to slip right past the police and get on his way down the 405. Johnny’s heart was sinking, how would he get help for Mike now?

~~ E! ~~

After Roy got off the phone with Captain Stanley, he went back to the living room and sat down to continue to watch the news reports. Cap had told Roy that he would get in touch with Chet and Marco and they would all gather at Roy’s place to wait for any news. The news reports were sketchy and incomplete. No one seemed to know exactly what had happened beyond the fact that shots had been reported to have been fired from inside the yoga studio. Each report that Roy listened to made him more anxious. No two were alike. One would say there were 6 people inside the building and 3 shots were heard. The very next report claimed 32 people inside the building with 17 shots fired. Roy was becoming exceedingly worried about his partner and also his friend, Mike. Although Mike wasn’t all that close, Roy still liked and respected him and felt the bond of brotherhood. And with Johnny, well, Johnny was the brother Roy always wanted. He was Roy’s best friend on the face of the earth and he worried about Johnny constantly considering how often he ended up in Rampart as a patient.

Roy was lost in thought when the doorbell rang. As he rose from his chair to answer the door, something on the television caught his eye. The camera was panning the parking lot outside of the yoga studio explaining where the studio was located. Over more towards the back of the building, Roy spotted a familiar vehicle, Johnny’s Land Rover. He hurried to the front door to let his captain and crewmates in, then rushed back into the living room as he explained to them about Johnny’s Rover. Chet was the first one to say anything. “Roy, are you sure it’s Johnny’s Rover?” asked Chet.

“Well look at the screen, Chet. Whose does it look like to you?” Roy spouted back.

Chet, Marco, and even Cap had to admit that yes it was most definitely Johnny’s. Cap used Roy’s phone to call dispatch and make them aware of the situation and the fact that there were two L.A. County firemen being held along with the others inside of the yoga studio. They patched the captain’s call right through to the one in charge of the rescue operation. It turned out to be their old friend, Lt. Ron Crockett.

“Lt. Crockett speaking, I understand you have some information for me on some people inside the building?” Crockett queried.

“Ron! This is Hank Stanley. Yes both John Gage and Mike Stoker are inside there”. Cap said, a bit unsteadily.

“Do you have any more information on the situation, Hank?”

“No Ron, in fact we only just found out that the boys were in that building”, said Hank.

As Captain Stanley continued to tell Lt. Crockett what he knew about the situation, which wasn’t much, Roy, Chet, and Marco watched the reports on the TV. Suddenly Chet began waving his arms frantically and cried out, “Guys, the Rover’s moving, LOOK!!” The others all observed the same thing as Chet, Johnny’s vehicle **_was_** moving out of the parking lot. Captain Stanley immediately informed Lt. Crockett of this new development. Crockett asked Cap to hold on while he told his people about the Rover. Crockett put a tail on it.

Sherry’s yoga students started coming out of the doors as the police began to converge on the establishment. A few of them were crying and screaming while one or two seemed to be almost catatonic. As Lt. Crockett approached the waiting group, Sherry herself joined the class. She was shaking and couldn’t stop apologizing for Mike’s having been shot. Crockett assured her that it wasn’t her fault, but she kept insisting that Mr. LeVox had made her feel extremely creepy and if she had just reported him to the police in the first place, he wouldn’t have gone to the extremes that he did. The Lt. had one of his people get a blanket for Sherry and made her sit down on the curbing. They had ambulances headed for the yoga studio to take those in need to Rampart to be checked out.

Sherry could give very little information to Lt. Crockett beyond Walter LeVox’s name and a brief description. Crockett relayed the information to the other detectives and they were able to get an address on him. The police were a bit shocked after going into LeVox’s residence. It was a one story stucco house with a small front porch that housed two wooden rocking chairs on either side of the front door. The house itself was painted an eggshell color with ocean blue colored front door and shutters. Hanging pots of petunias framed the porch area with various colors ranging from pale pink to deep purple. The two bedroom house was kept neat as a pin in every inch except for the second bedroom. Not that this room was messy, just mind jarring for there on every wall, ceiling to floor, were pictures of Sherry Polinow!! These photographs indicated that although Mr. LeVox had been talking to Sherry for three weeks, he had actually been stalking her for quite a long time. The detectives called in the forensics team to start a thorough in-depth investigation into exactly what Walter LeVox had been up to, and maybe figure out why he had taken Mike Stoker and John Gage hostage.

~~ E! ~~

Walter realized that he was being followed and knew he had to get off of the 405. He was able to scoot around several vehicles and got off onto the 110. As he watched behind him, LeVox saw that he had given the police the slip. He tried to think clearly until he figured out exactly where to head. He had instinctively gone south and knew that’s the way he wanted to be travelling. He was going to hide in the Regional Park in Harbor City among the hundreds of acres of woods.

Mike began to moan and thrash about in Johnny’s lap. His skin was hot and dry and without a thermometer, Johnny couldn’t get an accurate number, but knew that Mike’s temp was steadily rising. Johnny continued to stroke Mike’s hair and to talk softly to him to try to keep him calm. Suddenly, Mike’s eyes flew open and he cried out in agony. Walter started yelling from the driver’s seat to keep the SOB quiet or he would pull over and shoot Mike in the head and dump him out of the vehicle.

“J - Jaw – nee that you?” whispered Mike. “Wh wha’ hapin’? Hurz so bad, Johnny”, Mike softly spoke.

He had not taken his eyes off of Johnny for an instant since he woke up. Mike was in excruciating pain and Johnny could see every bit of that pain in the depth of Mike’s blue orbs.

Johnny reached for Mike’s hand and Mike latched onto the warmth of Johnny’s fingers as if they were the only thing on the planet keeping him alive. Mike again asked Johnny what had happened to them and where were they going.

“I don’t know where we’re headed Mike, but that’s Walter LeVox driving my Rover and he shot you in the abdomen because he thought you were stealin’ his girl”, Johnny quietly stated to Mike.

“Stealin’ his girl? Who?” queried Mike.

 

“Sherry, the yoga instructor” “She _does_ like you, Mike”, said Johnny.

“How bad is it, Johnny?”

“I won’t lie to ya, Mikey. It’s not good. You’ve lost a lot of blood but I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure that you come out of this just fine”.

“Johnny, I have to tell you something. “

“Mikey, please you have to lie still and not talk.”

“No, No, Johnny, please. . . I have to let you know in case I don’t survive. I love you, John Gage”

“I love you too, Mike Stoker”, Johnny says rather wistfully.

“No, Johnny, I’m **IN** love with you!” Mike declared rather forcefully.

Johnny stared at Mike for a moment in disbelief. He suddenly had tears in his eyes. Mike thinks he blew up their friendship and also began to tear up. Moist cobalt orbs gazed up at molten chocolate. Johnny quietly whispered to Mike “I’ve been **IN** love with you since the day I **met** you”. Johnny leans downs slowly and takes Mike’s mouth gently into his own. The kiss is sweet and soft, but both men know there will be plenty more where these came from. When Johnny backs away, Mike says, “Love you lots, Johnny”. Johnny says “Me too, you, Mikey.” They continue to look at each other as if for the first time and can’t get enough of each other.

At that moment, Walter LeVox slammed on the brakes which sent Mike into the back of the driver’s seat. This action caused him to cry out in pain pushing Johnny into a tailspin of his own.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, LeVox? You could have killed Mike!”

“Shut the fuck up back there! Remember who is in control here”, Walter retorted.

Apparently, there had been a deer running in front of the Rover and that’s why Walter stopped. The further he drove into the park, the rougher the road became. Huge ruts and holes continued to jostle the vehicle around and poor Mike was in constant agony. Johnny was beside himself with worry and his heart was breaking for this beautiful man that he loved with his entire being. He wished that he could take on Mike’s hurt for him. Mike’s normally suntanned complexion was pale and pasty white. His cheeks and lips were a rosy red, indicating a high fever which was confirmed by Johnny’s hand on Mike’s forehead. He wished he had some Tylenol to help bring down Mike’s temperature. Johnny’s professional status as a paramedic led him to the conclusion that Mike’s temperature was at least 102 and probably higher. Johnny was thinking in their present situation, being a paramedic was both a blessing and a curse. Johnny’s stomach did flip flops every time they hit another bump. He was seriously beginning to wonder if either he or Mike would ever make it out of the Regional Park or his Land Rover alive.


	5. Coming To a Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Gage has a secret and a problem. So does Mike Stoker. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended

 

As Roy, Cap, Chet, and Marco continued to watch the TV in Roy’s living room, they came to the undeniable conclusion that Lt. Crockett would soon be headed for Rampart. They decided to join him there, figuring they might be more help to Johnny and Mike and they would be among familiar faces. Roy, especially, wanted to be close in case Johnny was hurt and needed him. So they all left their vehicles in Roy’s driveway and took off to the hospital in Chet’s VW van. As Chet drove the four anxious men to the hospital, they discussed how horrible this situation was and though not one of them voiced their fear out loud, it was written all over their faces.

~~ E! ~~

By Johnny’s watch, it was a few minutes after four in the afternoon, but they were so far in the forest of Regional Park, it looked like it was midnight. The further that Walter drove, the more discouraged Johnny became at being found any time soon. He was also becoming increasingly nervous as to LeVox’s plans with him and Mike once Walter felt he had made his getaway. Johnny continued to hold on tightly to Mike and cradle his head in Johnny’s lap. As time went on, Mike began shivering uncontrollably. Johnny continued to apply pressure on Mike’s wound and stroked his forehead and hair. It seemed to calm Mike down, but he was still critical and Johnny was petrified that Mike was going to die. His fever was raging and Johnny guessed it was at least 104+ which was dangerously high. The bullet wound to Mike’s abdomen had slowed down its bleeding but Johnny had no idea how much internal damage had been done or how much bleeding was actually going on. He did know that the bullet was still inside him because there was no exit hole. Checking Mike’s pulse and respirations also confirmed Johnny’s suspicions that Mike had developed an infection from the wound. Probably from pieces of cloth that made their way inside of him along with the bullet. Johnny was really scared of how bad off Mike really was.

For Mike’s part, he was having horrible visions and terrible dreams. He kept seeing hideous creatures like huge green and brown lizards with giant scales. These lizards kept approaching Mike and as they got closer, Mike saw their heads turn into Walter LeVox’s face, glasses and all. The “Walter” lizard rolled his tongue out right in Mike’s face and as he did this the tongue turned into a huge version of Walter’s gun. As the gun appeared right in Mike’s face it went off. Mike’s eyes remained open and as the smoke dissipated he suddenly saw Johnny’s concerned face in front of him and then he felt a searing pain in his forehead. He groaned and softly called Johnny’s name and felt a coolness on his forehead. Mike then found himself running as fast as he could through the woods. Something was after him, he could feel it! Mike had no idea who or what was chasing him but he had a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. As he ran along, hands and claws continuously reached out to grab him and at the very least slow him down. Mike was terrified, but continued to run as fast as he could. Sweat began running down from the top of his head to his face, neck and down his torso. It was very dark in this forest that Mike found himself running in except for a patch of light way off in the distance. It was this light that Mike was aiming for. He felt compelled to run towards that light thinking he would find safety there. As he got closer to that bright spot, Mike thought he saw a familiar face. His eyes finally began to focus and Johnny Gage was standing there leaning up against a tree smiling at Mike and waving to him. But as Mike got closer to Johnny, out from behind trees and bushes along the way, were little trolls who all had Walter LeVox’s face and gnarled hands that tried to stop him from accomplishing his task. They all had green skin, yellow teeth and evil, nasty, laughs. Mike was doing his utmost to get to Johnny who was still standing in the light, but he seemed so far away that Mike was afraid he would never reach him. He was thrashing about in his fevered mind. His head was really hurting now and he wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. Mike was moaning and without realizing it, yelled out loud for Johnny to help him.

As Johnny realized that Mike was caught in the grips of a fever induced nightmare, he did his level best to calm him down. Johnny spoke nonsense words of love and comfort in Mike’s ear and caressed his arms, shoulders, and back. This seemed to help a little bit to alleviate Mike’s bad dreams. Slowly, Johnny became aware that the Rover was no longer moving. Looking up at Walter in the driver’s seat, he saw Walter turned halfway around looking straight at him and holding onto that gun. It gave Johnny a strange eerie feeling right down his spine having that pistol pointed at his head. LeVox was ordering Johnny out of the Rover.

“Take that piece of trash out of the truck with you and start walking”, ground out Walter.

“Which way do you want me to go? And how am I going to see to get anywhere?”

“Don’t you worry about not being able to see, ain’t gonna matter much longer,” Walter sneered.

Johnny felt icy cold fingers gripping his stomach. He understood that Walter was going to kill them both. Johnny would give up his own life for Mike but would rather have inspiration hit. He really wanted to be around to begin this new exciting adventure _with_ Mike! Walter told Johnny to face forward, stuck the end of the gun in his back and told him to start walking. Johnny’s brain was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what to do. He was carrying Mike and didn’t want to take a chance on hurting him, but he had to get them out of this mess very soon or Walter would do it for him. Trying to walk in the near pitch black while carrying a 190 pound man was a bit challenging for Johnny. When he slowed down a bit to avoid tripping over a rather large rock, an idea quickly formed in his head. Not wanting Mike hurt any further, Johnny cried out as if he were in pain and immediately squatted down. He placed Mike on the ground as gently as he could just as Walter grabbed him from behind by the scruff of his neck. Johnny whirled around and reached for the gun in Walter’s hand. The silence was deafening until the sound of the bullet being discharged from LeVox’s weapon sliced through the inky blackness. Johnny and Walter stood toe to toe staring at each other. . .

~~ E! ~~

At Rampart Lt. Crockett gathered as many of the yoga students together as he could. He brought them into the doctor’s lounge and began questioning them individually. He was getting pretty much the same story from everyone. He had asked which one of them had called the police and a petite dark-haired young woman raised her hand. Crockett smiled and asked for her name.

“My name is Gwen, Gwen Mecca”, she said shyly.

“Fantastic job, Gwen! Your quick thinking saved everyone in this room”, praised Lt. Crockett.

As frightened and shocked as everyone was, they were so appreciative of what Gwen had done, all nine students in the room gave her a round of applause! Clark, who secretly had a crush on Gwen, walked straight up to her and wrapped his arms around her. As he did so he whispered in her ear, “Let’s go out to dinner tonight”. Gwen gave Clark an immediate and emphatic answer: YES!

While Crockett was interviewing the students in the lounge, Roy, Cap, Marco, and Chet were walking into Rampart General Hospital through the ambulance bay in the emergency room. Cap, Marco, and Chet went right over to the waiting area while Roy headed for the base station. Dixie McCall was in her usual spot behind her desk sitting on her padded stool. She looked up into Roy DeSoto’s determined face.

“Hey, Dix. Have you seen anything of Lt. Crockett around here?”

“Hi Roy. Yes he is interviewing the students from Johnny and Mike’s yoga class in the doctor’s lounge. Kel gave him permission.”

“Do you know if there has been any word . . . at all about Mike or J.. Johnny?”

“No, no news at all. And I don’t know how much help any of those students are going to be either. None of them, not even the shooter’s object of attention has any idea where they all went after they got into Johnny’s Rover. Well, except for the fact that we all know that it was Mike Stoker that was shot.”

“What? Wait Dix! You know for a FACT that it was Mike? He _was_ shot?”

“Yes, Roy. Mike _was_ shot somewhere in the stomach area and Johnny was trying to stop the bleeding. A woman named Sherry somebody had been stalked by this LeVox character for a while now. She felt uncomfortable around him, but not particularly threatened so she never reported it. She feels horrible now considering what happened to Mike and what _could have_ happened. None of this information helps with knowing where they are and how to help them.”

“Well, thank you so much, Dixie. This is so much more than we knew before we all got down here. Let me go relay all of this to the other guys. We won’t get in the way, but I think the best place for us is right here at the hospital to wait for news.”

With that, Roy walked back over to his Captain and the others and reiterated everything Dixie had just told him. The guys were all sick with worry about how severe a gunshot wound Mike had and what this LeVox person might do with the two of them once he felt Gage and Stoker weren’t needed anymore.

 

  


 

 

 


	6. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny Gage has a problem and a secret. Mike Stoker has the same problem and secret. Will a brush with death lead them to a solution?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> A/N: Thank you for all of the encouragement. It means everything!

Johnny and Walter stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity. Walter’s eyes suddenly rolled up inside his head and he crumpled to the ground. Johnny squatted down and checked Walter LeVox for a carotid pulse. Not finding one he placed his hand, palm side down, on Walter’s abdomen to check for respirations. _‘Nothing’_. Next, Johnny carefully lifted LeVox’s eyelids, one at a time, both eyes were fixed and dilated. Johnny stood over LeVox for a few seconds in complete shock; he absolutely could not wrap his head around the fact that he, John Gage, rescue man and paramedic, had just _shot and killed another human being!_

Johnny decided that there wasn’t time right now to delve into what had just transpired between Walter LeVox and himself. He had a much more immediate problem: Get Mike Stoker to a hospital, **STAT**!! With this newfound resolve to get the man he loved with his entire heart and soul to help immediately, Johnny ran over to where Mike was lying on the ground and began talking softly to him. Mike’s eyes fluttered a couple of times and Johnny could only hope that Mikey could indeed hear and understand him. He told Mike that the gunman was dead and that Johnny was going to get Mike back home to LA and to Rampart Hospital as quickly as he could humanly do it.

As Johnny picked Mike up in his arms, it was apparent that his fever had not subsided in the least and may have in fact gone up a bit. Johnny kept his shirt tightly stemming the flow of blood from Mike’s wound which brought a few weak moans out of the critically injured man. Gage quickly packaged Mike up and placed him across the mattress that Johnny kept in the back of his Land Rover for camping purposes. He then reached down to Mikey’s face, smoothed his hair down, caressed his cheek and brushed his lips against Mike’s ruby red ones. Johnny then dashed into the driver’s seat and checked the ignition for his keys: not there, FUCK! Johnny jumped out of the vehicle and ran to LeVox’s body. With his stomach doing flip-flops, he reached into Walter’s pockets until he found his keys. Johnny raced back to his Rover, glancing in the back at Mikey on the way to the front seat, got in and gunned it out of the woods. Johnny knew that he had to get out of there and back to civilization expediently but given the severity of Stoker’s injury he also had to be cautious.

~~ E! ~~

Ron Crockett always considered himself a fairly even tempered man. This attribute among many others made him very good at detective work and the tedious, mundane routine of discovering minute details. However, after spending hour after hour with the students from **The Inner Peace Yoga Studio** without gaining a single lead, Crockett was ready to hit something.

The Lt. didn’t know Mike Stoker much beyond his name and physical description, but he did have occasion to get to know the affable young John Gage a few years back when he and his partner, Roy DeSoto, had been accused of a hit and run while on their way to a rescue. They had been innocent of the charges and Ron had been instrumental in that case. He really liked John and didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, or to Mike Stoker for that matter. At the moment, Crockett had practically every detective and beat cop in LA County out looking for Johnny’s Land Rover. He figured he was grasping at straws, but one could never tell.

~~ E! ~~

After almost a half hour of driving, Johnny began seeing more skylight as he drove further out of the Regional Park and the thick forest. He continued driving with his heart beating wildly in his chest desperately searching for a phone along the way. Finally, Johnny broke free of the forest cover. He was still in an isolated area, but at least he was on a paved road. Mike was softly groaning in the truck bed. Up ahead Johnny spotted a phone booth on the side of the road which astounded him to find it out in the middle of nowhere. He pulled up to the booth, jumped out and said a silent prayer that the phone was in working order. Fishing around in his pockets, Johnny found a dime. He inserted it in the phone and held his breath until he heard it… a dial tone! Johnny swiftly called dispatch and identified himself. He then gave his location, as best he could and explained the grave condition that Firefighter Specialist Mike Stoker was in. Johnny was told to sit tight and help would be sent to him immediately. Johnny thanked dispatch and hung up. He ran around to the back of the Rover and jumped in to stay with Mike until help came. Dispatch had told Johnny they would be sending a chopper, stat. Johnny was so afraid for Mike at this point he was beside himself. Mike was so pale and still. The heat emanating from his body was bone chilling to Johnny. He was barely keeping it together when he heard the faint sound of a chopper. He told Mike to hang on that help was coming as he continued to gently stroke Mike’s hair. Johnny softly talked to Mike about all the things they could and would do together as soon as Mike was well.

“Bowling, Mike. We could go bowling! Now I don’t know if you like to bowl, but if you’re game, no pun intended, we could go after work one morning.” Johnny heard this very tiny voice say, “zztee”. He bent his ear down to Mike’s lips and he heard, “A 260”. Johnny asked of Mike if he meant that he could bowl a 260 and Mike nodded in the affirmative, Johnny was pleased on two levels. One that Mike was conscience enough to follow the conversation and two that Mike was interested in going bowling with Johnny! So Johnny plunged forward. He saddled right up against Mike and draped his arm around Mike’s shoulders. Johnny told Mike that he wanted to take him out to the fanciest restaurant, of his choice, in Los Angeles where Mike could order anything and everything he wanted including appetizers, drinks and desserts. At first Mike gave Johnny a million watt smile, but it quickly turned into a grimace and then he passed out. Johnny continued to talk to Mike softly and gently stroke his forehead as he heard the chopper getting louder and louder by the minute.

~~ E! ~~

Lt. Crockett had finished up with all of the students from **The Inner Peace Yoga Studio**. Though everyone in the class felt badly for Sherry Polinow, their instructor, for Walter LeVox stalking her and were all proud of Gwen’s quick and daring thinking to call for help when they were all being held hostage, not one of them could give Ron any information of real use to find LeVox and his hostages. He told all of the students they were free to go but if any of them needed to see a doctor, or be treated, by all means stay on at the hospital. Crockett directed them over to the desk that they would go to, should the need arise. All ten people thanked the detective and went about their business. Sherry had to wonder how many of them would actually show up for the next class. She also was very concerned about Johnny and especially Mike. After speaking with him before class that morning, Sherry knew he was someone she would like to get to know better. Hopefully, he would still be inclined to get to know her better despite that stalker person.

Upon leaving the doctor’s lounge, Crockett walked straight to the base station to thank Dixie and Dr. Brackett for letting him use the room. He inquired about Gage and Stoker and was told there had been no news but that the guys from Station 51 were waiting over in chairs. As Crockett headed towards the waiting area he read the body language of the men. Marco Lopez and Chet Kelly were slouched down in their seats, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Roy DeSoto and Hank Stanley had their heads together and were talking very quietly to each other. While Ron Crockett went over to talk to them, the familiar buzzing of an L.A. County Fire Department squad was calling in. Dixie hopped down from her stool and walked into the glass enclosed area and asked the squad calling in to please repeat.

“ ** _Rampart this is County 127, how do you read?”_**

“127, we read you loud and clear. Go ahead, what have you got?”

**_“Dixie, Andy Sharpe here. Mark and I are out with Chopper 6. We are calling in your two missing firefighters, John Gage and Mike Stoker from 51’s.”_ **

Hearing this information, Dixie was barely able to contain herself. She looked out of the glass and saw one of her reliable nurses walking by. She tapped on the glass and when the nurse opened the door,

Dixie said, “Sally, please go over to chairs and tell the guys that Johnny and Mike have been found and are being brought in by chopper!”

“Stand by 127, paging doctor.” “ _Dr. Brackett to the base station, STAT. Dr. Brackett to the ER, STAT._

While Dixie was paging Dr. Brackett, paramedics Andy Sharpe and Mark Webb were getting vitals and information from Mike Stoker and Johnny Gage. Well they were mostly getting information from Johnny, since Mike was pretty much out of it. Andy and Mark had been following the news and knew what had gone down but to see them in person, was at best very scary. Johnny seemed to be physically unharmed but in shock, dehydrated, and drained. His t-shirt was covered in blood, but a cursory exam showed both Mark and Andy that it was Mike’s blood. His condition, as opposed to Johnny’s, was perilous. The paramedics of Station 127’s were ready and waiting with Mike’s vital signs just as Dr. Brackett got out to the base station.

“County 127 we will take those vitals as soon as you get them,” said Brackett anxiously.

Joe Early happened to walk by the base station at that time and heard all the commotion. He knew that the victims’ crewmates were sitting right down the hallway so he went off to tell them.

“Hey, Roy? Guys? Johnny and Mike have been found! We have them on the bio-phone right now, Squad 127 is taking care of them,” stated Dr. Early.

Of course they all scrambled out of their seats to converge on the poor doctor. Chet got their first and was right in Early’s face.

“Doc, how are they? Are they hurt? When are they gonna get here? Where are they now? How. . .” stammered Chet.

“Now, hold on pal,” chuckled Captain Stanley. “Let Dr. Early catch his breath and tell us what’s going on.”

“Thanks Hank,” Dr. Early said quietly. “All I know for sure is that Johnny and Mike are alive, Johnny seems to be fine, physically and Mike is in critical condition. But at this point, I know very little. Dr. Brackett is currently in constant contact with the paramedics on scene and Mike and Johnny. You all know as much as we do now,” Early always has a calming affect making even the toughest situation better. Cap thought to himself that he would make a batch of his ‘Famous Clam Chowder’ for the good doctor when this was all over. Roy had been front and center while Dr. Early was speaking, and now excused himself to take off down the hallway to the base station. Roy recognized the voice of Andy Sharpe from 127’s. He was in the process of telling Dr. Brackett about Mike’s vital signs.

**_“Rampart, BP is 106/90. Patient is orientated to name but not to place, he is diaphoretic, and semi-conscience. There is significant amounts of blood loss. Actual GSW is in the upper left quadrant of the abdomen with no visible exit wound.”_ **

“10-4 127, start IV D5W TKO. Also, piggyback . . .”

The medical orders that Dr. Brackett was barking into the intercom scared Roy to death for Mike. He was critical and might not make it back to Rampart alive. He felt badly for himself, Johnny, and the rest of the guys. But a piece of him couldn’t help but be thankful that it wasn’t Johnny lying there with a GSW to the abdomen.

The whole time that Dr. Brackett was issuing orders to Andy, Johnny was watching Mike. He continued to whisper encouraging words of love in Mike’s ear. Johnny kept assuring Mike that he would be fine and Johnny professed his love to Mike as well. When Johnny whispered in Mike’s ear, “I love you”, Mike opened his eyes a crack and Johnny could see his lips moving. Johnny bent his ear down to Mike’s lips to listen. Mike was saying, “Love you lots, Johnny.” Johnny answered back in Mike’s ear, “Me too you, Mikey.”

“127, what’s your ETA?” queried Brackett.

**_“Rampart, ETA is 3 minutes. Hold on Rampart, Victim 1 has just gone into full arrest . . .!” yelled Sharpe._ **


	7. Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Has Johnny revealed too much to Roy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Thank you for all of the kind words and support.

Chapter 7 – Revelations

 

As Roy sat with Captain Stanley, Chet, and Marco, he couldn’t help being relieved that Johnny was unharmed, physically at least. He, of course, was very concerned about Mike Stoker. Firefighters were a true brotherhood and they all looked out for and worried about each other, but he and Johnny had a special bond. In many ways that tie was deeper than biological brothers. Roy was very worried about Johnny’s emotional state. After all, a person couldn’t possibly go through what Johnny just did without causing some damage. Roy also knew how bad Mike was doing from the short time he had spent at the base station listening to the paramedics and Dr. Brackett. Dixie had finally shooed him away and told him to go get a cup of coffee and that she would let him know when Johnny had arrived. What Roy was unaware of was the full arrest that Mike was currently experiencing.

~~ E! ~~

Johnny didn’t think he could be anymore scared, but he was most decidedly wrong. When Mike went into full arrest, Johnny nearly had heart failure himself. He was trying so hard to maintain a positive attitude but he was now literally numb with fear for his Mikey. He sat on the chopper’s floor next to Mike’s head, but not being able to touch him because of the defibrillation. Johnny was hearing the conversation between Andy and Brackett, and Andy and Mark but it was through a haze, and because his blood pressure was pounding in his ears, he could barely hear what was being said. Not that he needed to, what was being done for and to Mike, Johnny had done a million times. It was all so familiar and yet so foreign _because_ it was Mike. Johnny finally let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding when he heard Andy say _sinus rhythm._ Mark was pointing out to Johnny that they were in full view of Rampart and headed for the gigantic X on the roof. Andy was signing off of the bio-phone as Brackett stated he would meet them at the chopper. Andy and Mark had Mike packaged and ready to transfer to the gurney that would be awaiting them. Mark asked Johnny if he was okay and ready to go. He acknowledged Mark’s question with a nod. Johnny then told them not to give him a second thought, just concentrate on Mike.

When the chopper’s door slid open, both Dr. Kelly Brackett and Nurse Dixie McCall were standing there waiting for them. Brackett did a quick once over of Mike before heading for the elevator. Dixie went straight to Johnny and put her arm around his waist and guided him towards the doors. Andy gave Brackett an update on Mike and then Kel turned to Johnny and asked if he could tell him what exactly had happened to Mike and how long ago he’d been shot. Somewhere in Johnny’s mind, he understood that Brackett did this on purpose to see how well orientated Johnny was as well as getting information about Stoker. Johnny told Brackett that Mike had been shot point blank in the upper left quadrant of his abdomen. He said how he had taken his shirt off immediately and applied as much pressure as he could. This had happened approximately 0900 Tuesday morning, but he wasn’t sure what day or time it was now. As Johnny spoke both Brackett and Dixie took in his appearance. He was covered in blood, Mike’s blood. He was sweaty, dirty, and exhausted. He was also shaking, badly. Both of them recognized the beginnings of shock and Brackett told Dixie to bring Johnny to a treatment room once down in the ER. Johnny started to protest, but decided against it. His emotions were raw and he was afraid if he spoke too much he would just lose it. When the elevator brought them down to the ER, Dr. Early and Roy were standing there. Brackett and the paramedics from 127’s rolled Mike into Treatment Room 3 and Dixie guided Johnny over to Dr. Early who headed towards Treatment Room 5. When Johnny realized he wasn’t going in with Mike he started to complain but seeing the determined looks on both Joe and Dixie kept him quiet. Johnny dejectedly got up on the examining table rather gingerly. This was not lost on any of them. Roy moved closer to the table to get a better look at his partner. He couldn’t help but shiver when he saw the amount of blood all over Johnny’s t-shirt, jeans, arms and hands. Roy also noticed right away that Johnny was shaking to the point that his teeth were chattering. Johnny looked up at Roy with such sadness and fear in his eyes that his heart broke for his best friend.

“Okay, John I need you to lie back on the table and let me check you over, alright?” asked Dr. Early.

“Yeah, ok doc. But can you find out how Mike is doing?” Johnny croaked out. The three people in the room were shocked at how raspy and weak his voice was.

“Roy?”

“Yes, Johnny I’m right here. You’re gonna be ok, just take it easy and let the doc take care of you.”

“I I I..will. I jjjust need to know how Mike is. Can you go check for me, R R oy?”

“Sure Johnny, I’ll go check right now, but you do just what Dr. Early and Dixie tell you, okay?” Roy winked at Johnny and touched his shoulder. That’s when Roy felt how cold Johnny’s skin was and how much he was shaking. He left Treatment Room 5 visibly upset. Roy headed for Treatment Room 3 and saw Lt. Crockett hanging around the corridor.

“Hey, Lt. do you need something?” inquired Roy.

“Yeah, actually Roy I need to speak to John Gage as soon as they let me.”

“Well Johnny’s not doing so hot. He’s in a treatment room right now.”

“I understand that, but I really do need to talk to him, we found Walter LeVox’s body deep in the forest of the Regional Park in Harbor City. He was shot to death.”

“Oh I see”, puzzled Roy. He knew that Crockett needed answers but he really didn’t think that Johnny could handle questions right then.

“I will let the doctors know that you need to talk to Johnny and I’m sure as soon as they feel that he’s up to it, they’ll allow it,” said Roy.

“Thank you Roy. Hey I’m just trying to wrap this thing up. We know that LeVox was stalking Sherry Polinow and that he shot Mike Stoker and kidnapped him and John Gage. But I still have a job to do.”

“Understood, Lt. I will talk to the docs for ya,” said Roy. He then went into Treatment Room 3 to check on Mike for Johnny and himself. Dr. Brackett was ordering a series of tests for Mike. Roy asked him how Mike was doing. Brackett’s mouth was twitching, a sure sign that things were not looking good. He told Roy that he was worried about injuries to Mike’s small bowel, colon, liver, vascular structures, stomach, and kidney. He told Roy that these areas were the most common. He was also concerned about sepsis and multiple organ failure. Brackett told Roy that Johnny had done a fantastic job with Mike and stemming the blood flow and taking care of him in general. Roy asked Dr. Brackett what he could tell Johnny and that he was a wreck waiting for news about how Mike was doing. Brackett said that Mike was going up to surgery in a couple of minutes and Johnny was welcome to see him for a second or two. Roy then told Brackett about Crockett being there and needing to question Johnny and how LeVox was dead. Roy also told him how upset Johnny was and that he might need something to calm him down. Dr. Brackett said that Dr. Hunt would be doing Mike’s surgery and as soon as he talked with said doctor, he would deal with Crockett and then go to Johnny and speak with Joe to get his opinion as well.

By the time Roy got back to him, Johnny was ready to stroke out. He was beside himself with worry and the tears were threatening to spill over. Roy saw him and immediately went over and put his arm around his friend. He told Johnny that everything was going to be ok.

“Johnny, calm down now. Mike is holding his own and is going to be going up to surgery. Dr. Hunt is doing the operation and Dr. Brackett said that you could see him before he goes up.”

“But Roy, what if, what i if Mikey, d d dies,” Johnny whispered. “And we never get the chance to .. ..,” Johnny revealed. Then flood gates opened and he leaned up against Roy and let the tears come.

Roy was somewhat baffled by Johnny’s reaction. He understood the fact that Mike was shot in front of Johnny and he’d had to do his level best to keep both of them alive for the last 10 hours. Also the fact that Johnny had to shoot a man and that man died, but still Johnny was acting like, like umm… Roy started thinking that Johnny was acting towards Mike the way he himself would be acting if this were Joanne. Then suddenly everything made sense to Roy. Johnny’s behavior now and also his sudden interest in going to that yoga class. It wasn’t the class Johnny was interested in, it was one of the students, the student named Mike Stoker! All of the puzzle pieces suddenly fell into place in Roy’s mind, but he decided that right now, Johnny needed his friendship and support. They would deal with the complications and implications later. Johnny was finally released from the treatment room and went out to wait for word on Mike in the waiting area. Roy helped him up and the two went out to see what was going on. As they walked down to the hard chairs in the waiting room they heard over the PA system: **_“Code Blue, OR 3, Dr. Bensson to OR 3 STAT! Code Blue.”_** Everyone gasped, knowing that was where Mike was…

 

 

 

 


	8. Ties That Bind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who is continuing to read along. I am learning so much as I go so hopefully each chapter will be better than the last.

 

Roy didn’t think it was possible for Johnny to get any grayer but he was wrong. Johnny’s complexion was practically translucent. Roy grabbed him and sat him down in a chair and pushed his head between his knees. There was a flurry of activity going on around them but Johnny was too incapacitated to figure it all out. He heard some voices speaking around him and then it was quiet. The only sound Johnny heard was the blood pulsating in his ears. The next voice he heard was Roy’s speaking softly to him. Roy was telling Johnny that Mike was ok and the crisis had been averted. Johnny looked at Roy skeptically and Roy continued on, explaining to him that Dixie had gone to the OR to check it out, and Mike was holding his own. Yes there had been a problem and Mike’s heart had stopped at one point, but he was doing just fine and the operation should be finished shortly. Johnny visibly relaxed and Roy was able to get him to go to the waiting area.

Johnny slowly walked in and slumped down into a hard, cold, plastic chair. Roy sat down right next to Johnny, as if to protect him from an onslaught of questions. Cap, Chet, and Marco were all sitting in that area as well. Johnny’s head was slightly bent and he was rocking in his chair. The longer he sat there the more agitated and upset he got. Dixie walked over to see how the guys were doing and noticed how upset Johnny was. She made him go with her and she put him in Kel Brackett’s office. She had him lie down on the soft couch and covered him with a blanket. She assured him that she would come to get him the minute there was any news about Mike.

After Johnny was gone, the others all commented on how bad Gage looked. Chet wouldn’t get off the subject of Johnny looking so tired and sick and how he had huge dark smudges under his eyes. Everyone tried to ignore him, but Roy’s nerves were raw. Captain Stanley noticed Roy’s irritation at Chet’s badgering and finally told Chet to be quiet and mind his own business. Cap told Chet when he had gone through what Johnny did then he would have the right to make comments. The men discussed whether Mike’s folks should be called or not. Cap said no that Mike had had a falling out with his parents a few years back and didn’t want them involved in his life at all. They were all curious about this ‘falling out’ but all of them, even Chet, understood now was not the time to ask.

Roy was very concerned about his partner, so he took off for Dr. Brackett’s office to check on him. Johnny was half sitting up with his head in his hands and crying uncontrollably. Roy promptly went to Johnny and put his arm around him. Johnny laid his head on Roy’s shoulder and let him comfort him. He was so scared for Mike and it was also sinking in that he had actually taken a life. Walter LeVox was a horrible human being, but he was still a person and Johnny was having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he had indeed killed him.

“H..he was gonna kill Mikey, Roy” sobbed Johnny. “That maniac, he was gonna shoot him!”

“I know, Johnny. He DID shoot Mike”, countered Roy.

“No, Roy. You don’t understand. Yeah he _SHOT_ Mike, but he was gonna shoot him **_again! Right in the head, Roy! Right in the middle of Mikey’s freakin’ forehead!!!”_** Johnny exclaimed.

“Johnny, is that when you shot LeVox?” asked Roy. Johnny shook his head in the negative. He then went on to tell Roy that he did actually manage to get the gun out of LeVox’s hands, but Walter had recovered the gun and that’s when he had made Johnny and Mike get into the Rover. At this point Roy told Johnny not to say anymore. He told Johnny that Lt. Crockett needed to hear this and Roy didn’t want Johnny to have to repeat it more than once. Johnny had no problem being quiet, he really didn’t want to talk about it at all, didn’t even want to think about it. Roy was back much too soon as far as Johnny was concerned, with Lt. Crockett and Johnny told Crockett the whole sordid story from the time he had arrived at **The Inner Peace** until he and Mike had gotten to Rampart in the helicopter. The Lt. didn’t say very much except for asking Johnny some clarifying questions. He then thanked him and said that he would be writing up a formal report for Johnny to sign and of course he would have to speak to Mike to get his statement once the doctors gave their permission. By the time Johnny had given his statement to Crockett, Dr. Brackett and Dr. Hunt walked into Brackett’s office. Johnny and Roy both looked up at them expectantly but they were both wearing their “poker faces”. Roy asked if he should go get the others and Brackett nodded, so off he went. Seeing the panic written all over Johnny’s face, Dr. Hunt put his hand on John’s shoulder and told him that Mike was doing fine and not to worry. With Johnny visibly relaxed, Dr. Hunt sat down on the couch next to him and waited for the others to arrive. Brackett sat down behind his desk and waited. Roy came back directly with the others and after they had all taken seats, Dr. Hunt began. Captain Stanley had shot Chet a look that clearly told the curly-haired lineman not to interrupt the good doctor.

Dr. Hunt proceeded to tell the crewmembers that Mike was holding his own at the moment. He had lost an incredible amount of blood, but it was being replenished. He was currently in recovery and would be transferred to the ICU within the hour. Chet started to ask when they could see Mike but Roy intervened and said that Johnny would be the one to go and see him as soon as it was possible. Johnny’s glance over at Roy showed how grateful he was for saying that and all the others nodded in agreement, even Chet. Johnny asked about recovery time and Dr. Hunt said that would depend on Mike’s overall health, but from what he had seen, he felt that Mike was in excellent physical condition. However, there were many factors to consider and Mike’s emotional health was also an issue. He had just gone through a major traumatic experience and might need some counseling to go along with the physical therapy. Dr. Hunt also noted that Johnny might benefit from some counseling after what he’d gone through and that emotionally, Johnny’s trauma was much more intense than Mike’s was. Dr. Hunt spoke softly to Johnny and he merely gave the doctor a cursory glance and then back down at his shoe tops. Johnny said that he could only think of seeing Mike right now and nothing beyond that. Captain Stanley decided to pull rank and told Chet and Marco that they should get going since they wouldn’t be seeing Mike today anyway. Chet was going to argue, but then thought better of it. Hank knew that Johnny had to see Mike to put his worried mind to rest and he also understood that Roy needed to be there for Johnny. Dr. Hunt excused himself and told Johnny that someone would come and get him when he was able to see Mike. Dr. Brackett said that Johnny and Roy were welcome to stay in his office and wait and that he was due back out in the ER anyway and lastly Hank, Chet, and Marco took off for home. They were all back on duty the next day. Johnny had been taken off duty until the investigation into the shooting and subsequent findings were established and Cap gave Roy the next day off to spend with John, figuring that his young paramedic could use a shoulder to lean on. Roy thought that he would wait until Johnny had spent some time with Mike, and then coax his best friend to go home and spend the night at Roy’s house. This way Johnny could get some rest and Roy would be able to keep an eye on him.

~~ E! ~~

Mike Stoker couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was definitely something wrong. He felt both lighter than air and heavier than a block of cement. Mike thought that unless he was anchored down, he would simply float away into nothingness or plunge deep into the earth. He was unable to open his eyes or move his arms and legs. Along with these problems, Mike knew there was a tube down his throat breathing for him; he could both feel it and hear it. What bothered Mike the most was that he could hear various voices and figured out they were all nurses, but nowhere in his recollections was that one voice that would have soothed him and assure him that everything was going to be alright. Where was Johnny? Mike started to panic thinking something bad had happened to him which set the alarms off. He suddenly felt a coldness and a stinging in his arm and then a warmth began to envelope him and he was getting sleepy. He continued to fight the sleepiness, still worried about where Johnny was. Then Mike heard that one voice, that one person that made his heart skip a beat. “Hey Mikey, it’s me. I’m here for you and I’m not goin’ anywhere.” Mike was then able to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Roy stayed in the ICU waiting area for Johnny. He knew that Dr. Hunt and the nurses wouldn’t allow Johnny to stay in with Mike indefinitely and Roy was determined to bring him home. With Joanne and the kids away, Johnny couldn’t even try to say he would be in the way at Roy’s house. After about ten minutes, Roy peeked into the ICU curtained area that contained Mike Stoker. What he saw nearly tore his heart out. Mike was asleep with a vent down his throat and looking extremely pale. Johnny was sitting in a chair next to Mike’s bed with both of his hands wrapped around Mike’s right hand. Roy could tell by Johnny’s body language that he was quietly sobbing. Roy didn’t want to startle Johnny, but didn’t want Mike to pick up on Johnny’s sadness and become agitated. So he carefully went into the cubicle and lightly placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. When he turned towards Roy, Johnny’s eyes were red and swollen from crying so much and Roy wanted to cry himself. Roy coaxed him out of Mike’s cubicle and had him sit in the waiting area to talk to him.

“Johnny, you really need to take a break and get some rest”.

“Roy, I just can’t leave ‘em. I promised I would be right here for him.”

“But Johnny, Mike is going to be asleep for hours. They are deliberately keeping him sedated in order for him to heal faster and also so that the vent wouldn’t be so uncomfortable.”

Johnny’s voice was barely above a whisper when he said, “What if he wakes up and I’m not here? He’ll be really scared, Roy.”

“You aren’t going to be any help to Mike at all, Johnny, if you don’t take care of yourself. You’re totally run down, shaking, dehydrated, and generally exhausted!” Roy observed. “How ’m I doin’?”

Johnny had to smile in spite of himself, because Roy was so right! “Well, okay Roy, I’ll go home with ya, but just for a short while, right?”

“I promise, Johnny. Just a few hours so we can grab a bite to eat and then you can take a nice hot shower, get a few hours of sleep and a change of clothes. I will bring you right back to the hospital after that, deal?”

“Deal. But I get to go in and say good night to Mike before we go.”

“No problem, Johnny. Go do that now and then we’ll head out.”

So Johnny went back into Mike’s cubicle and whispered in his ear that Roy was dragging him out of his ICU room to eat and get some sleep. Johnny then told Mike that he loved him with his entire being and he would be back as soon as he could possibly get there. Then Johnny leaned over and gave Mike a kiss on his forehead, not realizing that Roy was watching. Johnny left Mike’s cubicle and told Roy he was ready to go. As they were walking through the corridors of Rampart, Johnny started to experience some shortness of breath and was becoming diaphoretic and very pale. Roy recognized the symptoms and guided Johnny to the nearest Men’s Room where Johnny proceeded to vomit until he was barely able to stand. Roy then handed him a damp paper towel with cold water for Johnny to cool down his face and neck with. After all of this was accomplished, the two paramedics walked side by side out of the hospital to Roy’s awaiting Porsche.

~~ E! ~~

Roy had barely driven out of the parking lot and Johnny was sound asleep. Roy hated to wake him up, but he had to get Johnny into the house. Roy shook him gently and Johnny’s eyes slowly opened. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to get the cobwebs out of his head.

“Here already?” Johnny wanted to know.

“Yeah, it doesn’t take that long, especially when you’re asleep!” teased Roy.

“Okay, okay, so I guess I could use a couple hours of sleep,” Johnny said sheepishly.

“Come on Johnny, let’s get you up to bed.”

“Roy, I would rather take a shower first, is that okay?”

“Yes of course. You know where everything is and you can come out smelling like Strawberry Shortcake.” snickered Roy.

Roy set about cooking up eggs and bacon with home fries and toast. It was almost ready when Johnny sauntered into the kitchen wearing just a towel. He asked Roy if he had something for him to wear. Roy told Johnny to dish up the food while he went to find something that Johnny would fit into. He came back a couple minutes later with a pair of sweats, boxer shorts and a t shirt. Johnny gave a little smile and a thank you and said he would change after he ate. Even though Johnny simply moved his food around on the plate, he did manage to eat a few bites. Roy told Johnny while they were still at the table that he had called Johnny’s neighbor, Sam Mira, and told him the situation with Johnny and asked if Sam would look after Johnny’s horses. Sam readily agreed and sent positive thoughts Johnny’s way. Johnny ate a couple more bites of his food, so Roy let him go up to bed. Johnny made his way upstairs to the guest room, put the clothes on that Roy had given to him and then Johnny fell into a restless sleep while Roy was doing the dishes. While Roy had the water running he thought he heard something and shut the water off. As soon as he trained his ears on the stairs, he heard it. Johnny was screaming. . .

 

 

 


	9. Anxious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> A/N: Can't believe I am almost finished with this first story. Just a couple more chapters to go. Thank you to everyone who has read it, and especially to those giving comments. I am having a great time writing these guys!

 

Roy raced up the stairs and carefully opened the door to the guest room. Johnny was sitting up in the corner of the room flattened between the wall and Joanne’s sewing machine. He was evidently hiding from some ghoulish apparition that only Johnny could see. Roy talked softly to him so as to calm him down. At this point, Roy was unsure if Johnny was even awake or still being held hostage by his nightmare. Roy sat on the corner of the bed and began to talk to Johnny.

“Johnny, it’s me, Roy. Can you hear me?”

**_“NO, don’t come near me! Stay away from me!”_ **

“Johnny it’s okay, you’re safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you. I promise I’ll protect you.”

**_“You already killed my Mikey! I won’t let you get away with that!”_ **

And with this announcement, Johnny lunged out of the corner and tackled Roy. Fortunately Johnny wasn’t in any shape or frame of mind to do any damage to Roy so when Johnny plowed into him, Roy simply wrapped his arms around Johnny and held him close, Johnny wriggled and squirmed and grunted but Roy held fast. After a few moments, Johnny collapsed in Roy’s arms and began to cry. Roy held onto him, rubbing circles on his back and rocking him back and forth. Roy also spoke gently to Johnny telling him everything would be alright. After a good half hour, Johnny drifted off to sleep. Roy picked him up and placed him in the bed in the guest room. He left the door ajar, just in case Johnny got up in the night. Roy went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and to get ready to go to bed. When he was finished, he checked on Johnny and he was still sleeping soundly. Roy went about turning off the lights and then went into his bedroom. He also left his door ajar just in case. Roy went to bed, but unfortunately, not to sleep. He had way too much on his mind to be able to sleep. He kept going over the search for the Rover, how Mike was just a hair’s breath away from not being with them anymore and the fact that Johnny was an emotional wreck. All of those things rolled together were enough to give a person insomnia but add in Roy’s suspicions about the relationship between his best friend and Mike Stoker to mull that over in his mind, Roy was awake pretty much all night.

~~ E! ~~

The first thing that Mike was aware of was the searing pain in his stomach. He couldn’t figure out where he was or why. As the minutes ticked by images and scattered pictures appeared and dissipated in Mike’s fuzzy brain. His strongest image was of Johnny Gage. He wondered what time it was and why Johnny wasn’t there. Mike then recalled Johnny whispering in his ear that Johnny loved him and something about going home with Roy.

_“Oh right, ok so that’s where Johnny is.”_ Mike thought to himself. He wished that he could at least open his eyes. It was really hard to get a handle on things not being able to see or speak. He also realized that he was still on that damn vent that was so uncomfortable. Suddenly there was a voice talking to him, a nurse taking his blood pressure. Mike concentrated totally on opening his eyes and after a couple of tries he got them to flutter and then open a crack or two. Everything was a bit out of focus but he was able to identify the nurse, but not her nametag. She was a pretty girl mid-20’s with blonde hair and eyes about the same color blue as Mike’s. As she was taking his vitals she noticed that he was awake. She smiled and said hi to him and told Mike that her name was Louise and that she would be his nurse for the next twenty-four hours. Mike gave Louise as much of a smile that he could muster around the vent. Louise told Mike that she was going to go get Dr. Hunt because he would want to know that Mike was awake. Mike gave a small nod of his head to acknowledge Louise.

~~ E! ~~

Johnny woke up feeling better but very worried about Mike. He couldn’t get out of bed fast enough to get going back to the hospital like Roy had promised last night. In the master bedroom, Roy was pulling himself up out of his warm, comfy bed tired and rather lethargic from lack of sleep. He knew that he needed to get a pot of coffee on as soon as he checked on Johnny and then get Johnny back to Rampart. Sure enough when Roy left his bedroom, he heard Johnny moving around in his room. Roy knocked quietly on the door and heard Johnny tell him to come in. Roy merely stuck his head in the door and asked if Johnny was ok. Getting a nod in the affirmative, Roy told him he would go start the coffee and they should be able to leave for Rampart in 15 to 20 minutes. Johnny actually gave Roy a famous Gage crooked smile!

True to his word, Roy had the coffee finished and the two men had a cup of the hot brew and were off to the hospital in 17 minutes. Johnny was antsy in the car not knowing how well Mike would be feeling when he got there. When Roy backed into a parking space Johnny let out a huge breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and was jumping out of the car before Roy had actually stopped.

Johnny made a beeline to ICU and Mike’s cubicle. When he pulled back the curtain, Dr. Hunt was in with him and Mike was awake. Embarrassed, Johnny quickly scooted out of the cubicle to the dismay of one Mr. Michael Stoker. Dr. Hunt excused himself from Mike and told him he would get Johnny back for him. The good doctor went in search of Johnny and found him waiting in chairs. Johnny stood up and apologized to Dr. Hunt for barging in.

“No, no Mr. Gage. You have every right to be there with Mike and I know he really wanted to see you, especially after the vent came off.”

“Yeah Doc. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here until now. Mike’s color looked much better.”

Dr. Hunt smiled and said, “No worries, Mr. Gage. Yesterday was harrowing for everyone involved and you really needed to eat and rest.”

“Yeah, that’s what my partner said as well, and it’s Johnny, Doc.”

“Ok, Johnny, you should get in there to Mike, he really has been anxious for you to get here.”

“But he’s doing ok?”

“He’s doing great, Johnny. Considering all he’s been through it’s a miracle that he’s even alive, let alone doing so well. He should be out of ICU by tonight and if things progress nicely, he should be out of the hospital by the end of the week.”

“Good deal Doc!!” “So I can go right in now?”

“Yes, Johnny. And **_you_** may give him the good news.” said Dr. Hunt.

“Thanks, Doc, for everything”

“Just doin’ my job!”

Johnny then bounded into Mike’s cubicle with his famous Gage crooked smile. Mike looked up at him and couldn’t help but smile at ‘ _Mr. Goofy’._ “Why are you looking so silly?” asked Mike.

“Because I’m in love with the most gorgeous man on the planet, and that man is in love with me! And that man is getting out of ICU tonight and maybe out of the hospital by the end of the week! So that beautiful man that I love with my entire being will be at my house pretty soon, what’s not to be happy about?”

Mike couldn’t help but giggle at this wonderful Adonis that he had been crazy about since he had met him.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that? But I love you lots, Johnny”

“Me too you, Mikey. Boy, I can’t wait to take you home with me.” “Oh and Roy’s here, he drove me over.”

“Yeah, I was wonderin’ where you were and then I remembered you mentioned something about going with Roy. I’m glad you stayed at his place, but I prefer _your_ choice in clothes.” Mike said with a chuckle.

Johnny had forgotten all about the clothes he was wearing and that they belonged to Roy. He was very pleased that Mike was so coherent that he had taken in what Johnny was wearing. “Don’t worry hot stuff. When you get out of here, I’ll dress up in my best outfit and take you out on the town”, Johnny promised Mike.

“Can’t wait, thanks for giving me something to look forward to”

“I’m goin’ give you something to look forward to for the rest of your life, Michael Stoker. Mainly showing you how much I love you each and every day.”

“Well, Gagey, baby, I vow to do the same for you.” quipped Mike.

“Gagey, baby? How much pain medication have they been giving you?” laughed Johnny.

“I guess, just enough. They gave me an extra dose for taking the vent out, I’m feeling pretty good”, said Mike with a huge smile. “Plus I’m just happy to see you.”

“Well, I’m just glad that you are doing so well and should be outta here by the end of the week. You know with the ‘speed’ of the wheels of justice, I’ll prob’ly be off work for a good month, plenty of time to give you all the TLC that you need”, Johnny mused.

Mike smiled and told Johnny to come closer. Johnny went and sat on Mike’s bed and Mike motioned him closer. Johnny bent down to Mike’s face and marveled once again at how cobalt those beautiful orbs were. As he bent closer, Mike grabbed the material of the front of Johnny’s T-shirt and brought him in for a very sensual kiss. When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing quite heavily. Mike told Johnny that was a definite promise for the _very_ near future.

Just after they broke apart from each other, Roy walked into the cubicle. Seeing Johnny sitting on Mike’s bed and the look on both their faces, furthered to confirm his suspicions that there was something going on between his partner and their engineer. For some reason the look on Roy’s face made Johnny feel like he was sitting there totally naked. It was as if Roy shared Johnny’s secret about being bi-sexual in general and being with Mike specifically. Roy then gave Johnny a knowing smile, waved over at Mike, and walked back out of the room. Johnny turned to Mike with a very perplexed look on his face and shrugged his shoulders. He then asked Mike what he thought of Roy’s behavior. Mike stared at Johnny for a full minute before his face broke into a smile and he told Johnny that he thought Johnny better go have a talk with Roy right away and that Mike thought that he and Johnny had just been ‘outed’! Johnny stared back at Mike for a few seconds with an incredulous look on his face, then gave Mike a thousand watt smile that just melted Mike’s heart, bent over and gave Mike a heart stopping kiss and ran out of the cubicle. Mike just laid there shaking his head and snickering. Johnny ran down the corridor until he spotted Roy by the elevators.

“Hey Roy, wait up a minute will ya?” Johnny called.

“Thought you’d spend more time than that with Mike, what’s up?” Roy asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“I really need to ask you a question, in private, and I need an honest answer, ok?” Johnny said almost desperately.

“Sure Junior, you can ask or talk to me about anything, I’m sure I will understand, no matter what it is”, Roy stated with a very sincere look.

The two men took the elevator back down to the first floor and walked outside. They went around to the side of the building and sat down on a bench. Roy was very calm and sat still while Johnny was fidgety, nervous, and looked ready to either run or cry. He finally started to speak but lost his thoughts the harder he tried to talk to Roy.

“Roy, I . . . um, well um . . I was um well um I . . . Roy”, Johnny stumbled.

“Johnny I think it would be easier for me to talk. You want to know if I knew you were gay and that you’re in a relationship with Mike Stoker, right?” Roy said smoothly.

Johnny just sat there staring at Roy and shaking his head and thinking about what his next move should be.

  


 


	10. Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't own them, just like to play for a while and sent them back to the station!
> 
> A/N: Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end of the story. The next story will begin September 3rd.

 

Johnny could feel the heat creeping up into his scalp and knew that his face was crimson. Where and when did he go so incredibly wrong that Roy figured out his undisclosed life? His _secret,_ the one that he worked so hard to keep hidden from everyone and here was his partner telling him that he knows about being gay _and_ the relationship with Mike. Johnny knew he had to say something, but he felt like he had just swallowed his tongue. Like always, Roy came to his rescue.

“Johnny, I can imagine how hard this is for you. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been wondering about your um.. relationships for quite a while now and as for Mike, just seeing how worried about him you’ve been I started thinking there was more to the two of you than friendship. By the way, how _IS_ Mike doing?”

Risking a glance over at Roy, Johnny only saw compassion and maybe a little amusement in Roy’s eyes. He saw none of the horrible emotions on Roy’s face that he had conjured up in his mind whenever he thought of telling Roy the _whole_ truth about himself. “So, Roy you’re um, okay with the fact that I like guys as well as girls?” Johnny asked very quietly. He didn’t dare risk another look at him for fear he would see that Roy really was disgusted with this knowledge.

“Oh so you’re, bisexual?” Roy asked, a little confused.

“Um yeah, I mean I really _was_ chasing all those girls, but even when I found one that I liked, it never seemed to work out. I’ve always felt more comfortable around guys and before you start getting nervous, no I’m **not** attracted to you Roy. You’re my _work_ partner and my best friend, but nothing more. And Mike is doing much better, but it’s gonna take time.”

“Well, Johnny, it’s good to hear that about Mike and I am relieved to know that you weren’t just using the nurses and other women that you went out with. And the thought never entered my mind that you might be romantically interested in **ME**! I know, if for no other reason, you would never get involved with a married person.”

Roy let his words sink in for a time. He could see the different emotions portray across Johnny’s face like a kaleidoscope. Roy had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. For Johnny’s part, he was mortified at first to think that Roy now knew his secret, but that led to feeling grateful that Roy finally knew and Johnny didn’t have to spend all that energy hiding anymore. The grateful emotion led to being furious that he had to hide in the first place, that there was an absolute danger to ‘outing’ oneself, or someone else doing it for you. After the anger was gone, he was left with acceptance. Acceptance that Roy would not tell anyone what he now knew and that he and Roy could go on just like always, except now Johnny had someone other than Mike and his own reflection in the mirror to talk to about his sexuality and he was back to that grateful thing again. Johnny was finally able to look Roy in the eye and was content with what he saw there. Roy was still Roy and didn’t think any less of Johnny for not being what ‘social mores’ deemed acceptable. Johnny suddenly felt exhausted, like he could sleep for a week. Roy noticed Johnny’s eyelids starting to droop and he said that they should get out of there. Johnny asked to go back up to Mike’s room and Roy nodded adamantly. Roy asked Johnny if it would be alright for him to pop his head into see Mike for a minute, and Johnny said that of course it would be alright, Mike would love the company.

~~ E! ~~

Mike was getting very concerned. Johnny had gone to speak to Roy over an hour ago. He kept thinking of all the things that might have gone wrong; the harshest being that Roy would cut Johnny out of his life altogether, believing him to be some sort of deviant or child molester. Mike knew from personal experience that this could absolutely be the deepest cut of them all and he hoped with his whole being that this wasn’t the case. Despite all of his bravado, Mike knew that Johnny was quite sensitive and took things to heart. Johnny also got his feelings hurt very easily. Even though Mike was the one laid up in the hospital, he was feeling particularly protective of the young paramedic. Mike knew that Johnny would never be the same if Roy took his children and his wife, Joanne, away from him, along with Roy’s own special and unique relationship. Mike wanted nothing more than for John Gage to come walking into his room, happy. As he was thinking this, the curtain to his cubicle opened and there he stood, Johnny, _his_ Johnny! Mike was so glad to see him and they each had huge grins plastered on their faces. Roy popped his head in past the curtain. Mike saw him from behind Johnny and told the senior paramedic to come in and have a seat. Roy sat down on the small chair afforded the ICU room. Roy wasn’t sure what to say and what to leave alone. He really wanted some answers but wasn’t even sure what questions to ask.

“Hey Mike. I just wanted to say Hi. I’m gonna head out and give you two some privacy. Johnny why don’t you call me when you’re done and I’ll come back here to Rampart and pick you up, ok?”

“Roy you don’t have to go, why don’t you stay and visit until Mike graduates from the ICU.”

“I don’t know Johnny”, said Roy dubiously. “I honestly have a lot to do and just wanted to see how our engineer was getting along.”

Mike felt like he was at a tennis match with his head going from one side to the other trying to follow Johnny and Roy’s discussion. Mike suddenly burst out laughing causing the two standing men to stop talking and look down at him.

“And just what is so funny, Stoker”, Johnny asked with arms akimbo.

“Yeah, Mike. Why are you laughing?” Roy chimed in.

“Because the two of you sounded like Gage and Kelly back at the station, just now!” announced Mike.

All three proceeded to look at one another and then they ALL started laughing. Mike had to grab a pillow and wrap it around his middle because it was really hurting but it was worth it to be able to laugh out loud. After they had calmed down, Roy said that he was going to head down to the ER and see who was around. He told Johnny to take his time and that after that Roy would go down to the cafeteria for a bite. Johnny was about to retort when a thought entered his brain. Roy and Mike asked him if he was ok and what was wrong. Johnny told them that he just thought when Roy offered to hang around here at the hospital, that he had no idea what happened to his Land Rover. He looked down at Mike then over to Roy but neither man could help him. Roy suggested he call Lt. Crockett after he got back to Roy’s and Johnny agreed.

While Roy was making his way down to the ER, Johnny headed for Mike’s bed. Of course a nurse came in right at that moment. She was there for his vitals and to give him his pain medication. Mike tried to protest saying that the meds made him sleepy and he really wanted and needed to stay awake. Both Johnny and Louise urged him to take the meds because they would aid in transferring him out of the ICU. So Mike gave in and let Louise inject the medication into his IV port.

As soon as Louise left, Johnny climbed onto Mike’s bed and leaned into him. Johnny reached down and caressed Mike’s cheek. Next Johnny traced Mike’s luscious lips with his long, slim fingers. Mike ran his tongue over Johnny’s digits. He then took Johnny’s hand in his own and kissed every finger and knuckle. Johnny watched Mike work on his fingers and was getting hard. He had to stand and adjust his sweats, a move not lost on Mike. Then Johnny bent down and gave Mike another very passionate kiss. They decided they had better quit before it was too late. Mike was getting aroused himself and he knew that he’d be embarrassed if Louise or some other nurse or even Dr. Hunt walked in, so he reluctantly let Johnny go.

Johnny was like a soothing tonic to Mike during the next hour in the ICU. At 3:00 pm Dr. Hunt came into Mike’s room with a smile. He told Mike and Johnny that Mike was about to be kicked out of the ICU and put in a regular room for the remainder of his time at Rampart. Since the hospital staff would be busy pulling cords and adjusting machines for Mike, Johnny said he was going to step out and go see if Roy happened to still be in the hospital. He asked Dr. Hunt what room Mike was being moved to and he said that Mike would be in Room 230. After thanking the doc, and assuring Mike that he would be up in his room as soon as possible, Johnny went to find Roy. He spotted Roy sitting at a table way over in a corner of the cafeteria. Johnny walked over and Roy asked how Mike was doing. Johnny told him that Mike was being moved to Room 230 and Johnny could go see him in a little bit. Johnny then told Roy that he could go home and Johnny would get a ride with someone. Roy was skeptical but agreed under one condition, that Johnny get something to eat. Johnny started to protest but Roy put his foot down. Johnny gave Roy a look and rolled his eyes, but he did walk over and get a sandwich and a cup of coffee. As they sat eating and drinking coffee, Johnny and Roy did their best to make small talk, but just couldn’t do it. All Johnny wanted was to get up to Mike in his new room. When they finished, they bused their table and headed out; Roy to the parking lot and Johnny to Room 230. Johnny had promised Roy that he would call him if he needed anything.

By the time Johnny got up to Mike’s room, he was already settled into his new bed and all his machines were beeping and humming along quite nicely. Mike was looking uncomfortable and Johnny asked him if he was in pain. Mike replied that yes his stomach was really hurting. Johnny reached over and checked Mike’s temperature and noted that Mike was rather warm. Johnny called the nurses’ station and some cute, little thing came running into the room.

“Yes, may I be of assistance?” Miss Perky squeaked.

“Hi I’m John Gage and this one here in the bed is Mike Stoker and he’s running rather warm, could you please take his temp?” asked Johnny.

“Oh sure, I was going to be coming in shortly anyway, since Mr. Stoker just arrived. And I’m Mindy by the way.”

“Thank you, Mindy and its Mike.”

“Alrighty then, let’s see what we have here.” Mindy said as she stuffed the thermometer into Mike’s mouth. While Mindy was waiting for the temperature, she went about taking his pulse and blood pressure. Johnny kept trying to see what she was writing down to no avail. When Mindy took the thermometer out of Mike’s mouth, she was clearly frowning. Mike and Johnny looked at her, then at each other, and finally back at Mindy. Johnny spoke first and asked what the verdict was. Mindy looked at Mike and he nodded his head so she told the two of them that Mike’s temp was 102.3. Mike was shocked, he didn’t even feel like he had a fever and Johnny was concerned but not surprised. Mindy told them not to worry, she thought maybe he was getting a post-op infection and she was going to call the doctor.

~~ E! ~~

While Johnny was visiting with Mike, Roy decided to call Joanne. He really needed to hear her reassuring voice in his ear. Plus he knew that she would not be very pleased if Roy didn’t tell her all that had happened to Mike and Johnny. So Roy parked his Porsche in the garage, went into his house, took off his shoes, grabbed a beer out of the fridge and went and sat down in his recliner. He took a couple of pulls of the beer, set the bottle down on his end table, picked up the phone and dialed the number of his mother-in-law. Roy was never so happy as to hear Joanne’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“ _Hello”_

“Hey Jo, it’s me.”

_“Hi sweetheart, is anything wrong?”_

“Not with me, but a few things have happened since I talked with you yesterday.”

_“Ok, Roy, just take your time, take a deep breath, and just begin, okay sweetheart?.”_

So Roy reiterated the whole sordid story from the time he talked with her yesterday until he just got home a few minutes ago. Joanne listened intently to every word that Roy said with a little gasp here or there. Joanne was very surprised about Walter LeVox and the kidnapping, but not surprised at all about Johnny’s “swinging both ways” or that he was in love with Mike Stoker. She was pleased as punch for the two men that she looked upon as her adopted brothers.

_“So Johnny’s there at the hospital with Mike now?”_

“Yes, that’s right. He refuses to leave Mike’s side and Mike sure isn’t complaining about it. I just worry about this whole thing, it could get messy.”

_“True, but they are both adults and I think they complement each other very well.”_

“Yeah, I’m just afraid that their ‘romance’ wouldn’t be looked upon favorably with the department, ya know?”

_“I understand exactly what you’re saying, Roy. I think ultimately it’s their call, don’t you?”_

“Oh I agree with you, Jo. I wouldn’t say a word, it’s totally up to them. I should get going, hun. I love you and thanks for listening. Give the kids hugs and kisses from their dear ole’ Dad. Also that I will see them and you soon.”

“ _Love you too, sweetheart. I’ll go round the kids up right now and I will always be here to listen to you. Be safe. Chris, Jenny, and I will be home by the time your next shift ends.”_

Roy hung up the phone feeling much better about everything. He always felt better after talking with Joanne. He decided to get something light to eat and then head off to the living room to watch TV for a couple of hours and then to bed. He was due at work the next day and he wanted to be well rested, especially after the last couple of days. While lounging in his recliner, Roy suddenly remembered about Johnny’s Rover. He called the police station and luckily Vince was there. When Roy explained to Vince why he was calling, Vince told him that yes they did have the vehicle at the police impound and just hadn’t had a chance to call Johnny. He told Vince that Johnny would be either at the hospital or Roy’s house for the next couple of days if he wanted to speak with Johnny. Vince said that he would let Johnny know as soon as he could take possession.

~~ E! ~~

Dr. Hunt had gotten the page from Mindy just as he was on his way out of the hospital. When he found out that Mike Stoker was spiking a fever he turned himself around and headed straight for Room 230. Taking one look at Mike lying there he knew there was an infection brewing. He had Johnny wait outside the drawn curtains while he examined Mike. Checking under the bandages, Dr. Hunt saw a definite infection in the incision line. He told Mike not to worry and that he was going to give him a stronger anti-biotic that would knock out the infection and bring the fever down in short order. When the doctor left the room he told Johnny he could go back in and then he went off to give the new orders to the nurse. Johnny entered the room and looked down at Mike and realized how badly he looked. The nurse came back in with a syringe and a cooling blanket. Johnny helped Mindy put the blanket under Mike and then she set about injecting the medicine into his IV.

Johnny stayed with Mike all night in his room. He continued to bathe Mike’s face with cool cloths. Johnny and the nurses all kept a close eye on Mike to make sure his fever didn’t go any higher. Until the fever finally broke around four in the morning, Mike was feeling pretty crummy. He kept oscillating between hot and cold but as the fever started to lessen, Mike began feeling more like himself. He slowly opened his eyes and was met by the most beautiful molten brown eyes he ever saw. In those eyes he saw worry, but he also saw love and passion. Mike felt like the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

“Hey there”, Mike whispered.

“Hey there yourself”, Johnny grinned back.

“How long was I out for?”

“About twelve hours, you really needed it. Although much of it wasn’t very restful.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I am feeling kinda drained and achy though.”

“I’m not surprised to hear that, Mikey. I’ve been really worried about you.” Johnny felt Mike’s forehead and noted that he was merely warm, not hot like he had been and he was starting to sweat, a sure sign that the fever broke. Dr. Hunt came into the room at this time and said he needed to examine Mike, so Johnny excused himself. The doctor did his exam and was very pleased. He told Mike that if he had someone at home to help him, he would allow Mike to go home by the end of the week. Mike was a bit downcast knowing he had no one at home to take care of him. He was still contemplating this when Johnny came back in to his room and was immediately concerned.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Johnny asked.

“Oh, nothing. Everything is great. Doc says I could be out of here by the end of the week.”

“I see. So did the good doctor give a time for me to come pick you up?”

“No, I probably won’t be able to go home Friday anyway.”

“Why not, Mike?”

“Because Dr. Hunt made it clear that I had to have someone right there with me,” said Mike dejectedly.

“You will have someone to be right there with you, if you’ll let me, Mikey,” Johnny said softly.

“Really? You want to take care of me?”

“Absolutely! So it’s all set? You’ll come home with me?”

“Yes, Johnny, I will go home with you.”

Dr. Hunt was extremely pleased with Mike’s rapid process. He had heard enough of the conversations between Johnny and Mike to know that Mike would be staying with Johnny and that Johnny couldn’t return to work yet. The doctor was also very impressed with the way that Johnny had taken care of Mike that night in the hospital when Mike’s temperature had gone so high. He decided to tell Mike what he had been thinking. Dr. Hunt told Mike that he absolutely could go home by Friday afternoon as long as he had a ride home and that he wouldn’t be alone. Johnny and Mike were beside themselves with joy just thinking about being together, especially since this was Thursday morning. Mike continued to gain strength for the next day when he would go home with _his_ Johnny. Mike felt very lonely Thursday night because Johnny had gone back home to get the guestroom ready for Mike’s stay. Lt. Crockett showed up at the hospital with his Rover. Johnny signed the release papers and Crockett handed him the keys. Johnny was a bit squeamish at first to be in the Rover again after what had happened with LeVox, but quickly got over it, he had too many happy memories in his Land Rover and was looking forward to many more fantastic memories with the aid of one very special engineer.

The next day brought with it a perfect sunrise. Mike watched the day dawn from his hospital window while Johnny watched from his back deck. Both men were filled with a promise for the future. Johnny went to Rampart a few hours early so he could spend most of the day with Mike and to have lunch together. The two spent the day with good intentions of talking about their future together, but mostly ended up gazing into each other’s eyes. Mike did ask Johnny about the investigation and how long he would be out of work. Johnny said the last time he spoke with Lt. Crockett, he had said it would probably take upwards of four to six weeks to finish the entire investigation. Crockett had also told Johnny that he had a good feeling about this case and he, Crockett, believed the shooting was justified. Johnny was sitting on Mike’s bed with him and Mike wrapped his arm around Johnny as he spoke. Mike knew justified or not, Johnny still felt guilty that he was responsible for the death of another human being.

They also had a very happy surprise visit from Joanne and the kids. She said that she had driven straight from her mother’s in San Diego back to LA. She was thrilled they were together. She gave Mike a warm, tender kiss on the cheek as she held his hands in hers. Then Joanne flung her arms around Johnny’s neck and gave him a huge hug. The kids did the same as little Jenny jumped on top of Johnny and Chris, after giving Johnny a hug, crawled up onto Mike’s bed and took his hand. Chris told Mike how sorry he was about what had happened to him and hoped he felt better. Jenny mimicked the same sentiment to Mike from Johnny’s safe arms. Mike told them that he was feeling better and their visit just made his day. He was smiling ear to ear that he was included in this extremely close knit relationship that Johnny had with the DeSotos. As for Johnny, he loved being ‘Uncle’ to Chris and Jenny and he was so grateful to have this family and now Mike Stoker in his life. Joanne and the kids only stayed a few minutes more, she wanted to get home and start unpacking and have everything straightened up before Roy got home in the morning plus she had the feeling that Mike and Johnny wanted to be alone. So they soon said their goodbyes with promises to get together within the next few weeks for a cookout.

The time finally came for Mike to be discharged and he couldn’t wait to get out of there! Dr. Hunt came in and gave them instructions on what to do and what not to do when Mike first got home. The doctor explained that Mike would tire very easily and sleep was the best thing for him. Dr. Hunt then signed the discharge papers, shook hands with both Mike and Johnny, told Mike to come in or call if he needed anything, before his first follow up visit, and then went off to find a nurse to bring the wheelchair.

By the time Johnny drove from Rampart General Hospital out to his ranch, Mike was sound asleep. Johnny had been enjoying the ride, listening to the radio and glancing over at the love of his life sleeping peacefully. He thought how it could have been over for the two of them before it even began. In the blink of an eye, their lives could have been lost. He almost lost his heart and soul and that scared Johnny to death. As he sat there staring off across the ranch at nothing in particular, Mike woke up and was watching Johnny. With a smile, Mike said to Johnny, “All I want Johnny is to be with you, forever.”

**The End**

Thank you for staying with me throughout this entire story. Stay tuned for the next story entitled ‘Echo of Yesterday’.

 

 

  


 

 

 

 

 

  



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